Dragon Cross
by Chaoslace
Summary: A drama set after the end of Persona 2: Batsu. Baofu and Ulala are investigating the disappearance of two students, and Maya and the Suou brothers get involved when the case turns criminal. In progress, moderate to heavy spoilers.
1. Chapter 1: Caucasus Awaits

One of the saddest things about the human condition is that we live in perpetual isolation from one another. Even in a crowd of thousands, or among our closest friends, we are still profoundly alone. No matter how well someone knows you, they will never know what it means to be you, and hence they will never fully understand you.  
  
Most of our lives we try to forget this fact. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.   
  
---------------  
Prologue - White Noise  
---------------  
  
Tatsuya Suou was feeling somewhat lost.  
  
"Do you know about 'Chaos Theory'?"   
"Isn't that just some buzzword from a while back?"  
  
The door to his classroom slid open with a soft shunk. He hesitated a moment before stepping in. Two girls close to the door made a little sound, but none of the other students seemed to notice him come in. Lunchtime conversations murmured around him.  
  
"What, something about a butterfly? Or a cat or something?"  
"Well, it's much more complex than that, naturally..."  
  
_Why did I come to school today_, he thought. _I don't normally go, do I?_ He started to approach a desk and then sidestepped awkwardly as two boys carrying nicely made lunches sat down at it. _O__ka__y, I guess that one's not mine. _  
  
"...and you see, the smallest things can affect something very large. Like a butterfly flapping its wings in South America adds up to thunderstorms in Europe."  
"I think he's making it up."  
"Yeah, give us a break, Kenichi."  
  
He made a few rounds of the room, casually trying to figure out what desk might be his. Several groups of girls had collected in the corners, and the center rows of desks were mostly occupied by people doing homework or dozing. Towards the front there were some empty seats, but on one scratched surface there was part of a lunch and on another there was a stuffed panda. He gave up and stood by the window, looking out at a gray sky. _I can't believe I don't even know where my own desk is._ Someone tapped his shoulder.  
  
"Um, excuse me," said a voice behind him. He turned; it was one of the girls from the front of the classroom. He started to smile, but she looked up at him and said earnestly, "Are you lost? What class are you looking for?"  
  
His smile faded.  
  
* * *  
  
Maya Amano was feeling very bored.  
  
"We have to ask ourselves, what do our readers really care about?"  
"Well, I don't think it's this band. They're already three months out of their debut, and not selling well."  
  
She picked at her familiar yellow notepad, drawing idle loops in the margins. She carefully inked a peace sign into one, and then a smiley face into another. She admired her handiwork and then signed her name decisively.  
  
"You can't take sales to be any indication of popularity. I mean, look at all those bootleg Pao Pao keychains the girls had..."  
"That's a cartoon dog. This is a music group, don't you think it's different?"  
  
_Things have been so quiet lately,_ she thought. _Nothing seems exciting anymore._ She shifted in her seat and looked at the gray sky outside the large conference room window. _Maybe it's just this weather that's getting me down._ A clock over the door ticked obnoxiously.  
  
"...what other options do we have?"  
"Well sir, there's this new girl group from a local area. I think it could be just the thing to boost interest..."  
  
She practiced her signature a few more times until she produced one that she thought was appropriately sassy. She added an exclamation point. Ma-ya! Her name sounded like some kind of dance that involved a lot of hips. She couldn't help but think of Ulala and stifled a laugh.  
  
"Next on the agenda..."  
  
* * *  
  
Ulala Serizawa was feeling a little sore.  
  
"...very dark eyes, short hair, about so long."  
"Mm, can you think of any friends she might be staying with?"  
  
She picked at her nails as she sat at the reception desk in Baofu's tiny, wood-paneled office. 'Desk' was a loose word to describe the place that she worked; rather, it was two pressboard end tables that were crammed together in the corner nearest to the door. Further crammed into the corner was Ulala herself, perched on something that looked suspiciously like a bar stool. She shifted uncomfortably.   
  
"No no, I don't think she'd be with family."  
"No? Still, I'd like to check. Here, fill in as many names as you can."  
  
Bao and the client were behind a screen that sectioned off his part of the office. Ulala sighed and resigned herself to opening the mail for that day. She picked up an envelope and sliced it open neatly with a steel letter opener.  
  
"Thank you so much."  
"Thank me when we bring her back to you, miss."  
"Here, take my number."  
  
_What a boring life this is,_ she lamented, carefully stacking the bills separate from the other piles of mail. _What did I do with my time before?_ Toying idly with the remaining envelopes, she leaned over her desk to peer behind Baofu's screen, but all she could see were his shoes.  
She pouted for a moment and then went back to tearing the mail open, empty envelopes falling to her feet. She was aware of the shadow of the client passing over her, then the door opening and closing. Baofu stayed behind his screen, and the only sound in the room was the quiet rustle of papers and the shick-shick of Ulala's long steel blade.  
  
* * *  
  
Katsuya Suou wasn't feeling much at all.  
  
"Excuse me, have we met before?"  
"...what? No, I'm sorry. I don't think I know you."  
  
He picked at the olive in his martini, poking it with the little clear plastic sword until it was riddled with holes and saturated with gin. He skewered it after a few failed attempts and popped it into his mouth, munching somberly.  
  
"No, I must know you. I'd never forget a woman as beautiful as you."  
"Ah... really? But maybe... would you like to join me?"  
  
He leaned forward onto his elbows, throwing back the rest of his drink. _I shouldn't be drinking at lunch_, he thought somberly, then ordered another one. _I shouldn't be drinking alone_. The new martini appeared and the smiling face of the bar girl swam for a moment in front of his shaded glasses.  
  
"You have such deep eyes. I'm so lucky to be sitting with you."  
"Please, you're making me blush."  
  
He kept his eyes on the wooden surface of the bar and traced the grain of it with his tiny plastic sword. He took the second one out of his new drink and played with them for a moment, crossing and uncrossing them dramatically. _Click, click, click_ they dueled, until his right hand prevailed and sent the other skittering across the bar.  
  
He froze, his cheeks flushed with sudden embarrassment. Very slowly he reached across, snatched up the sword, and set it gently back into his drink. He stared at it for a moment, and then, unexpectedly, started to chuckle. It started very small and became larger and larger until his stomach ached. Gasping, he pushed his glasses up, wiped his eyes with a napkin, and left feeling better than he had all day.  
  
---------------  
Chapter One - Caucasus Awaits  
---------------  
  
Baofu had a lot on his mind.  
  
Two runaways, a boy and a girl, had been reported that week. Though there appeared to be no connection between them, something nagged him and hinted that it was not mere coincidence. The end of his cigarette flared as he scribbled notes onto the back of a receipt. _This is strange,_ he thought. _Two kids, two days missing, two days apart._  
  
"Baaaaao..." Ulala moaned from her side of the office. He bit down onto his cigarette. _Two what? What was I thinking?_  
  
"Goodness, woman," he said, irritated. "What is it?"   
  
A pause. "I'm booooored..." Baofu blinked once, then rubbed his temples slowly. Bits of ash rained down onto his paper. He cursed, transferring the cigarette quickly to an ashtray.   
  
"Serizawa," he growled. "Don't you have work to do?"  
  
Another pause and some rustling papers. "No."  
  
He sighed and closed his eyes. "Then go home. Or out. Or anywhere but here." After a moment, he heard her get up and approach his desk. When he opened his eyes, she was standing beside his screen, her hand resting lightly on its edge. Behind her, he could see dim orange sunlight filtering through the office's lone window. _Is it sunset already?_ He looked back to her face, startled. _I lost track of time._  
  
"Oh shit, Serizawa, I didn't realize how late it was." She looked at him for a moment, then laughed quietly. He watched her shoulders shake and her hair seemed very pale in the golden light. Tiny bits of dust danced around her.  
  
"It's okay. I forgive you. But you have to go home too, yeah?" She tilted her head and tapped her wrist pointedly. He opened his mouth to object, but she quieted him with a chirp. "No excuses!" She turned to pick up her jacket. "You spend too much time here already."  
  
He shook his head and looked back down at his notes. _grl__ + 1. not w/o name – get # from ki. 2?_ He read it over a few times, then rubbed his eyes and brought it out to Ulala.   
  
"Does this mean anything to you?" he asked. She took it from his hands and looked it over.   
  
"No."  
  
He shrugged. "Fine, let's go get a drink then."   
  
The sun had already set by the time they got out to the street. Their office was small, but it was in a good location and they were only a short walk from downtown. Ulala pushed her hands into her pockets and shivered.  
  
"So are you going to tell me about this case?" Baofu glanced down at her, but she was looking straight ahead. He took out his gloves and tugged them on, saying nothing.  
  
They came to a streetlight and he took out a cigarette as they waited. It hung between his lips as he fumbled for a lighter. Ulala produced one from somewhere in her purse and flicked it on, holding it up for him. He raised his eyebrows and leaned in, the edges of the paper flaring and then glowing a faint red. The light changed and they walked across, bits of ash floating behind them.  
  
"I didn't know you smoked," he said, after taking a long drag.  
  
"I don't, but when you spend enough time around people like you and Ma-ya, you learn that it's a good thing to have around." She grinned. "But you changed the subject."  
  
He sniffed, somewhat surprised that she had caught him. "Hm. It wasn't intentional."  
  
"I'm sure it wasn't."   
  
They came up on the Parabellum entryway and he guided her in. Someone recognized her and she ran over to chat while Baofu stalked off to claim a corner booth. He tapped his cigarette into an ashtray and stared out the window at the city lights. It was a quiet night - at least it was that. A single car drove by and the frosted bar window splintered the headlights into a bright fan across the wall.   
  
Ulala returned, bearing two bottles. She slid into the booth and set them down with a dull clank. He picked one up and eyed it apprehensively. "Beer?"   
  
She grinned. "I'm easing you off the hard stuff." She took a deep drink from her own and immediately started coughing. "Ugh, this tastes terrible."  
  
He shrugged. "Guess I'm buying next time."  
  
"Yeah," she said, laughing. "That was pretty much the plan all along." She sat back. "Now, tell me all about this top-secret case of yours."

Baofu smoked the last of his cigarette and then snubbed it out, his eyes obscured behind his dark glasses. "It's nothing serious. Just two runaways: Ichirou Otsuki and Mai Ogawa. Both reported by family, but aside from that there seems to be no connection between them." He paused and leaned back, steepling his long gloved fingers as he spoke. "They don't even go to the same high school."  
  
Ulala looked out the window, holding her bottle to her lips. "Kasu High and Sevens?"  
  
He nodded. "I want to start at the clubs. That's the best place to find young people, if they did indeed run away." He paused, pursing his lips. "And something is telling me to check the schools, too."   
  
Ulala looked back at him in surprise. "Wouldn't that be a bad idea? Why would they bother showing up to school?" She watched as he shrugged and took another cigarette out of his coat. He played with it for a moment, and then stuck it back in his pocket. _That's odd,_ she thought. _Was that a nervous gesture? _  
  
"That's where their friends would be," he said. After a moment of hesitation, he added, "It's not entirely logical, but I feel as though we'll find something important there."  
  
Ulala stifled a laugh. "Woman's intuition, huh?"  
  
Baofu ignored her. "I have the files at the office. We'll work out the details tomorrow." He took a drink and the corners of his lips curled up sadistically. "Though I'm not sure I feel comfortable discussing important business matters with my secretary."   
  
"Whaaaat?" Ulala slammed her bottle down, sending Baofu's ashtray skittering across the table. "Kaoru Saga, if you intend on ever seeing me in that office again, you had better take that statement back right now!"  
  
He flinched. "Okay, okay, just stop yelling my name at the top your lungs, will you?" He smoothed his hair down and adjusted his glasses. "Yeesh... with friends like you, who needs enemies?"  
  
She stuck out her tongue. "You deserved it. Besides, I'm done with my beer. Aren't you going to get your partner another drink?"  
  
He raised his eyebrows. "Done already, Serizawa? That was fast, even for you." He fished out his wallet and opened it up. Inside he found several receipts, some scribbled phone numbers, and an embarrassingly old condom, but there was precious little that could pass for currency.   
  
"What?" Ulala said. "No cash?"   
  
"Unless antique Trojans have become legal tender, it seems that you're out of luck."  
  
She wrinkled her nose. "Shouldn't you throw that thing out?"  
  
He shrugged. "It seems to be a bad luck charm. I like hanging onto it; it keeps my life interesting." He folded up his wallet and stuck it back into his pocket as he stood up. "It's getting late, anyway. Go home."  
  
She looked up at him, slightly pouting. "But I was having fun. Can't we go somewhere else?"  
  
"Yes, that magical place where the drinks are free and the waitresses are forever young. I dream of it often."   
  
She threw a balled-up napkin at him. "Alright, alright, I'm coming."   
  
She stood up and shrugged into her jacket. As she stepped out of the booth she faltered and almost crumpled to the floor. Baofu caught her elbow and steadied her.   
  
"Are you drunk already, woman?" he asked, though his voice was soft.   
  
Ulala's vision swam for a moment. "No, I'm okay." She shook her head and righted herself, lightly touching the wall for balance. "I'm just a little bit lightheaded. Maybe I did drink too fast..."   
  
Baofu sighed and put his arm around her. "Let's get you out of here. Have you eaten anything today?" She shook her head and looked a little green. He walked her gingerly out to the street, pursing his lips in agitation. "Dummy. Can't you walk at all?"  
  
She nodded and made it two teetering steps before nearly swooning again. He caught her and cursed silently. _Damn this woman. _  
  
They made their way slowly back uptown, and by the time they reached Baofu's place Ulala was nearly asleep on his shoulder. He paused in front of his apartment building, debated with himself, and then helped her up the stairs and into his home.  
  
He grunted as he pushed the door open with his shoulder, rousing Ulala. He walked her over to his worn couch and set her down on it. She blinked, disoriented, and furrowed her brow.  
  
"Am I home? Where's Ma-ya?"   
  
Baofu disappeared into another room and came back with a glass of water. He handed it to her, then took off his jacket and threw it over a chair. "No, you're at my place." He fell to his knees and started rummaging through a pair of boxes on the floor. "Drink that."  
  
She sniffed it. "Bleah."  
  
"It won't kill you." Baofu pulled out a stack of old magazines and put them aside. "Here we go," he said, producing a rusty hot plate with a long electric cord. He stood up and carried it into the other room.  
  
Ulala gingerly sipped her water and looked around the apartment. There seemed to be no furniture save for the couch that she sat on. A tangle of computer wires and monitors lived in one corner of the main room, and the rest of the floor was mostly covered with boxes. Next to her was a small stack of blankets and a pillow. _He must sleep on the couch_, she thought. It felt vaguely scratchy.  
  
She leaned back, pulling a wooly gray blanket over her. The water had cleared her head, and she felt a wash of embarrassment. I'm never going to live this one down.   
  
A few minutes later, Baofu appeared carrying a small steaming bowl. He handed it to her, along with a slightly bent spoon. "Instant ramen," he said, fetching his own. He sat cross-legged on the floor across from her. "Probably not what you're used to, but it was all I had."  
  
Ulala thanked him and took a few small bites. He dug into his own, making slurping noises as he ate. He looked up. "I suggest," he said, noticing her nearly full bowl, "that you eat as much of it as you can." She sighed and took a few more mouthfuls, chewing slowly.   
  
They ate in silence, and when she had finished, he took her dish and brought it back into the other room. She dimly heard water running, and as she closed her eyes the sound wavered at the edge of her perception. By the time he came back out she was already half asleep.  
  
"Bao..." she murmured, her voice muffled by the blanket.  
  
"What is it, Serizawa?" he said.  
  
"I'm calling in sick tomorrow."  
  
_Dummy,_ he thought, and then made himself comfortable on the floor.


	2. Chapter 2: Dance Apollo

---------------

Chapter 2 - Dance Apollo  
_  
Music exalts each joy, allays each grief,  
Expels diseases, softens every pain;  
And hence the wise of ancient days adored  
One power of physic, melody, and song._  
---------------  
  
Leaving campus was the easy part. Nobody really expected delinquents at Sevens, so they weren't looked for. Not to mention that Tatsuya was becoming something of an old hand at it.   
  
Thankfully he was a senior, so none of the teachers questioned him for walking in the halls during lunch. The front door wouldn't be open during the school day, but the exit to the courtyard was unlocked and from there he only had to skirt around the back to the parking lot.  
  
He hurried across the lot to his motorbike. He was anxious to get home quickly and change out of his uniform. He slipped on his helmet and shot out down the road lined with soft orange leaves. As he rode, he thought about taking the night off to spend some time at the Zodiac. He smiled into the wind and accelerated, leaving a flurry of fallen leaves in the narrow wake of his bike.  
  
His place was only a few blocks north of the river and it didn't take him long to get there. Gravel crunched under the wheels of his bike as he walked it into the small garage where he lived. The mechanics that owned the lot were friends of his, and they let him stay there in exchange for help on the weekends. It wasn't much, but it was better than home.  
  
He ran his fingers through his hair as the steel door shut heavily behind him. He tugged at his tie and unbuttoned his jacket, tossing them both into a heap on the floor. Light streamed though two small chain link windows and heated up the small room. He fell onto his cot with a sigh, throwing a fine cloud of dust into the air.   
  
He draped one arm over his eyes, and despite the heat he eventually dozed. It was dark when he woke up again. He sat upright and rubbed his eyes._ How long was I asleep? _He stood and walked to the window, reaching up to lace his fingers through the links. Pink clouds tickled the horizon and the sky was still a dim shade of blue.   
  
Tatsuya turned and stripped out of the remainder of his uniform. He fished around in his bag and came up with a black shirt and jeans. He shook the dust out of them and pulled them on, then scrubbed his face at the industrial sink in the corner. _Good enough,_ he thought, and walked out the door.  
  
The evening air was surprisingly cool, and a light breeze ruffled his hair as he walked out his bike. The roads were quiet and he made good time, whistling idly under his breath while he rode. The stars were coming out by the time he arrived at the club.  
  
Every time he came to the Zodiac he was surprised by the contrast between it and the outside world. Where outside it was cool and calm, inside it was warm and stuffy. The walls seemed soft and thick and the air was laced with smoke and perfume. He braced himself as he crossed the dark threshold into the building.  
  
The music was the first thing to hit his senses. The bass throbbed dully through the floor and the treble line felt disjointed, surreal. He nodded his head to it and made his way through the entryway to the table area. He pulled a chair aside and sat down, leaning back against the wall, half hidden in shadows.   
  
He watched. The crowd was still thin, but he could see that some people had already gotten caught up in it, had become absorbed by the music and the atmosphere of the club. He watched as it slowly percolated, simmering quietly as more and more people trickled onto the floor. He watched as a group of girls moved together, their bangles sparking in the fragmented light, eyes closed against the sound and the fury. He watched as the throng of people grew and pulsed, the music deepening as it wrapped itself around them. He followed them with his eyes until he felt that if he didn't cling to his seat he would be sucked in too and lose himself entirely.  
  
This was the part that he lived for. This was his moment of rapture, his moment of living.  
  
"It's just about reached critical, don't you think?" a voice spoke softly from the shadows next to him.  
  
He jumped, broken from his reverie. He looked up sharply. Squinting, he could make out the silhouette of a woman wreathed in smoke. The end of her cigarette flared red in the darkness.  
  
"You have me mistaken," he said, and got up to leave. A strong hand gripped his arm and pulled him back. Irritated, he turned to face her. "Now listen -"  
  
He trailed off, taken aback. Two deep, dark green eyes held him transfixed as their owner smiled wryly. "All this living energy, all these people suspended in the music, in the frenzy... can you feel it?" The corners of her lips curled up slightly. "Isn't it simply delicious? Doesn't it just make you feel alive?"  
  
Tatsuya just stared at her, his eyes tracing the line of her hair down to her jaw, then to her neck and shoulders. He couldn't tell what she was wearing – it seemed like she was clothed in darkness itself and her bare skin shone in stark contrast. She pulled on his arm and a sudden panic washed through him.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked slowly. He wanted to move, to run, but his arms and legs felt too slow and heavy. "Who... are you?" The music seemed to grow louder as the crowd of dancers thickened.   
  
The woman turned her head and laughed quietly, flicking her cigarette to the ground. "Call me Laurel," she said. A soft, sinister melody tinkled in her voice and Tatsuya closed his eyes, tried to shut it out. He felt her draw close and a peculiar warmth spread across his skin. She touched his arm lightly and walked her hand to his shoulder, then his cheek. "Why don't you dance with me?" she said, nudging him towards the crowd. "Won't that be fun?"  
  
He stiffened. It was all he could do to hold his body in place as something deep inside him warned, _don't go with her. Don't go with her. Don't go -_  
  
The woman - Laurel - leaned towards him. Her breath trembled in his ear and she murmured, "Dance with me, Apollo."  
  
Tatsuya's strength flooded back in that moment and he sprang back, slapping her hand away. His vision swam and the music thundered in his ears. No... The woman's expression changed from surprise to anger, and he felt a strange fear swell in his chest. _She's not human,_ he thought suddenly. In his mind a thousand clamoring voices diminished to one. _RUN!_  
  
He felt unexpected lightness rush through his legs and he took off faster than he would have thought possible. The crowd ebbed around him as he ran and he made it to the entryway unchallenged. When he looked back, he saw no sign of the woman save for a slight shimmer in the air. By the time he opened the door and stumbled out onto the street, it was gone.  
  
The fresh air hit him hard. He took a few deep breaths and ran his fingers through his hair. What just happened? He rubbed his eyes until blotches of light appeared behind his eyelids. Am I dreaming? He slumped against the wall, breathing in and out slowly until he felt calm enough to drive.  
  
After a minute had passed Tatsuya got on his bike and took off. He set out for home, but when he passed the park he felt a strange pull and he turned off of the road. It seemed harmless enough; two old-fashioned lamps lit the area dimly and the place was empty save for a lone car with steamed-up windows.   
  
He parked his bike in the low grass and walked towards a tall oak tree. He sat and leaned his back against it as he looked up to the sky, watching the stars filter through the gently waving leaves.  
  
It wasn't long before he felt himself drifting again, although the feeling was somewhat different than sleep.  
  
He dreamt that he was walking along a rough cliff that overlooked a dark gray sea. A single tree grew there, its roots gnarled and tangled in the rocky soil. He approached it and touched the trunk lightly with the tips of his fingers. It comforted him.  
  
Someone spoke behind him. "That's a very special tree."  
  
Tatsuya turned, alarmed. "Who's there?"   
  
A young man stood there, calmly regarding him. Below them the sea rolled against the cliff, and Tatsuya found himself staring into his own face. "You're me," he said in an oddly quiet voice.  
  
The young man smiled warmly. "You're half right. I am Apollo, but here I am also an aspect of you, a persona." He waved one arm. "This place is your doing."  
  
Tatsuya slumped against the tree. "So I'm dreaming?"  
  
"You might say that." Apollo's face wavered slightly, as though Tatsuya were looking through a heat-haze. "Although I am always with you, even when you're awake."  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
Apollo crossed his arms and looked out to the sea. "Think of a mirror. When you look into a mirror, you see an image of yourself. That's what I am right now; just a reflection." He turned back to face Tatsuya. "But when you called on me today, I passed through the mirror to join you in my own form. I was no longer simply a reflection of you. I was my own self, and I was able to lend my strength to you."  
  
Tatsuya was silent for a long moment. "So that was you in the nightclub."  
  
Apollo nodded. "I gave you the strength to resist her and the speed to run away. That woman is very dangerous. To both of us."   
  
Tatsuya looked up sharply. "So you know who she is?"  
  
"She is..." he paused, as if deliberating on the words. "She is a living shadow, a kind of demon that reflects something dark inside your own heart."  
  
Tatsuya shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. I didn't recognize her."  
  
Apollo's eyes darkened. "I did." He was silent then, and Tatsuya watched as he walked in some long-lost memory. After a few minutes he shook his head and spoke. "The shadow-woman must have felt me in you, and couldn't resist the opportunity to test her own strength." He smiled wryly. "You are lucky that she did. Had she targeted you, I might not have been able to help. As it was, she underestimated both of us."  
  
Tatsuya looked down, lost in thought. _A persona... it gives me strength. Why does it all feel so familiar?_  
  
He looked up suddenly. "Apollo, have we - "  
  
Apollo smiled then, a little sadly, and turned away. "We've met before," he said quietly, and then he melted into the mist.  
  
"Wait!" Tatsuya jumped up to follow him, but as he ran through the mists they just grew denser and denser until he was lost.   
  
He woke, cold and shivering, his clothes damp with dew and his head still full of questions.


	3. Chapter 3: Birds of a Feather

---------------  
Chapter 3 - Birds of a Feather  
---------------  
  
_I've seen this place before. Clay forms stand all around, in the forms of beasts and birds and men. A bright form swims before my eyes, moves between them, counting off names as he does in a brilliant language that speaks to my memory. I open my mouth to speak to him –  
  
- flying now. Moving so fast past the stars. I can't comprehend -  
  
The impossibly large chariot, burning with intolerable heat. Suddenly I see myself there, holding a torch to the flame. The sun. I scream, cry out to him, but I'm just a shadow, diminished by the intense light of the sun. We fall.  
  
The man glows brightly with the orange flame. It makes him strong, and I am proud. As I feel myself pulled away from him, my heart burns with a love I can't describe. I'm...  
  
- the heavy wingbeats of a great eagle fill my senses. It is here now. It has come for me.  
  
Pain slow. Pain slow. Pain -_  
  
Baofu awoke with a start. He felt flush and his pillow was stained with sweat, though all recollection of his dream had already fled from him. He sat up slowly, his joints creaking into motion. _Ah,_ he thought, wincing and massaging his neck. _I'm getting too old for this. _  
  
He sat on the floor for a while, scratching himself and recovering from the ordeal of sleep. When he finally brought himself to stand, he noticed the couch was unmade and that Ulala's boots were still lying by the door. _Oh,_ he thought simply, memories of last night's outing slowly trickling back to him.  
  
Baofu found his glasses on the floor and put them on, smoothing down his hair. He shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it into his dirty laundry box, claiming a pack of cigarettes from the breast pocket. He shook one out and stuck it between his lips, letting it hang there while he dug around for another shirt.   
  
"Let me get this straight," said a voice behind him. He turned to see Ulala standing in the doorway to the bathroom, wearing a robe and an amused expression. "You're wearing your sunglasses, but not a shirt."   
  
"Yeah," he said absentmindedly, bending to pick up a dark violet shirt that he was pretty sure wasn't the one he had just taken off. "I'm like those underwear ads." He slipped it on and started to button it up.  
  
Ulala grinned and crossed her arms. "And the cigarette?"  
  
"Breakfast of champions." He fished a lighter out of his pocket and lit up, keeping his back angled towards her. She took the unspoken signal and stepped forward to collect her clothes from the couch before returning to the bathroom. He heard her hesitate a moment and then the door closed behind her.   
  
He walked over to the apartment's single window and stared through a crack in the blinds. The morning sunlight filtered in and fell on his face and hands in long, thin lines. He exhaled very softly, tiny tendrils of smoke curling up and around his head.   
  
Baofu had a lot on his mind.  
  
He crossed his arms and stroked his goatee thoughtfully, his thin shoulders drawn and hunched forward. He'd been having nightmares lately. He never remembered them, but he knew they were bad from the panic he felt every morning, and the restlessness that stalked him through the day.   
  
And though the city seemed quiet and his life had become - more or less - normal again, he couldn't shake the feeling that something sinister still lurked on its dark underbelly. His eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he watched the leaves fall from a stand of elm trees outside his window. It didn't help that he was starting to feel his age, and that his body was telling him to slow down and settle already.   
  
And then there was Serizawa.  
  
"Ta-da!" she exclaimed, emerging from the bathroom. Baofu started and ash rained from his neglected cigarette down onto his shoes. He snubbed it out on the windowsill and turned to face her. "How do I look?" she said, flirtatiously.  
  
Baofu looked her over from behind his glasses. The light that poured through the window had run across the small room and pooled at her feet. In the morning sun her hair shone like spun gold, and a piece of it fell across her eyes when she smiled. She regarded him that way until her gaze slipped past him to look out the window. _She looks like a star,_ he thought suddenly, as he watched her eyes fill with light.  
  
"Same as you always do," he said simply, and stooped to pick up his keys. "I hope you're ready to do some footwork today."  
  
She started to say something, but he was already out the door.  
  
* * *  
  
"You see, if you double-click on this folder here, it brings up a new menu."  
  
Katsuya frowned and furrowed his brow. "It's not working."  
  
The handsome female police officer let out an exasperated sigh. "No, you're still doing it too slow. You have to do it like I showed you. Tap-tap. Not tap... tap."  
  
Katsuya nodded and readied his fingers above the button. "Tap-tap," he said, striking quickly and forcefully. The mouse bounced and spun across the desk, knocking into a mauve coffee mug that said 'I'm The Captain'. A tiny wave of sugary brown liquid slopped over the side and onto a stack of important-looking documents.  
  
They were both silent for a moment, then the lady officer spoke. "That was good," she said slowly. "Though I think you may have overcompensated just a little."  
  
His mouth moved without making any sound as he tore a handkerchief out of his pocket to mop up the coffee spill. "I'm s-so sorry," he managed to stutter out.  
  
The woman started to say something, but she was interrupted by another officer calling her name and waving a phone. "Excuse me," she said, getting up. "I have to take this call."  
  
Katsuya scrubbed his soaked hanky fruitlessly against the derelict mouse. He peeled it away from the sticky mess and decided simultaneously that he would never understand computers and that he was not having a very good day.  
  
Some hours later, after maintenance had been called to clean up the spill, and the tech guy had been called to bring a new mouse, and Katsuya had done much bowing and apologizing, he found himself quite ready to go home for the day. He made his excuses to the other officers, who graciously nodded and ushered him out the door, along with sympathetic words and home-brewed remedies for his 'ailment'.  
  
"Try wrapping a hot towel around your feet. It'll take the bad blood out of your head."  
"Never mind that, Echinacea tea cures everything. Make sure to drink it lukewarm, though, and with lots of sugar."   
  
He nodded gratefully and thanked them again before turning to disappear down the stairs. When he stepped outside, he was delighted to discover that the weather had taken a turn towards beautiful. He felt glad to have left a little early that day, so that he could appreciate the late afternoon sun before it fell below the city skyline.  
  
Katsuya lived in a subsidized apartment within walking distance of the station. Since he had taken in Tatsuya, he was lucky enough to be allowed that luxury. The truth of it was that you couldn't really say that the younger Suou lived there, as his visits were short and utilitarian and only when he was sure Katsuya would be at work. Earlier that week, Katsuya had taken a day off just so that he could be there when his brother came home. Around noon the key had turned in the lock and Tatsuya had stepped in to find Katsuya standing there, gazing at him. The expression on his face had been so dispassionate then, so cool and unassuming, that Katsuya couldn't bring himself to say or do anything as his younger sibling went about his business; he changed clothes, packed a few things into his bag, and left as quietly as he had come, locking the door behind him.   
  
It had been hard for Katsuya at first. When this world's Tatsuya was restored to his normal self, it was as though he had lost him all over again. He had to remind himself constantly that their understanding of one another had been reset. Still, in the sadness he felt there was always hope, for now he knew that on some level it was possible for them to be close again.  
  
_It'll just take time,_ thought the young officer as he walked._ Time and patience._ Fortunately, Katsuya had both of those in abundance.  
  
Though thoughts of Tatsuya weighed on his mind, he couldn't help but smile at the magic of the beautiful weather and the lingering afternoon. It was as though the day was hesitating, and the sun was still clinging to the shining building tops when Katsuya arrived at his home. What he found there was another magic all its own.  
  
Tatsuya was home.   
  
He wasn't just home. He wasn't packing a bag of clean clothes, or taking a hurried shower, or raiding the fridge for anything portable. He didn't jump when Katsuya came in, nor did he turn to give him an icy look. He was just sitting on the couch in comfortable clothes, one leg propped up on the coffee table, watching TV with a bland expression on his face. Katsuya could have cried, it was so deliciously normal.   
  
"You're home early," Tatsuya said, not looking up from his show. "We're out of milk."  
  
What followed was a moment of calm chased by a whirlwind of activity. Katsuya stood, stunned, for exactly three seconds before diving onto the couch to embrace his little brother. He ruffled Tatsuya's hair, inspected his clothes, and made little clucking noises about the state of his chewed-up nails. Tatsuya allowed his big brother to dote on him for a few minutes before extracting himself with an awkward laugh. Katsuya let him go reluctantly and sat back, smiling with happy warmth.   
  
A nervous silence fell over them, and for a while the only sound in the room was the low drone of the television. Katsuya kept quiet, wanting Tatsuya to be the one to speak first. Eventually, he did. "Big brother," he said.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
He watched a soap commercial intensely. "I'm home."  
  
"I noticed that."  
  
"Don't get any ideas, though. I just really wanted to watch this cooking show." He smirked, but it didn't hide the tiny bit of shy vulnerability that glimmered in his eyes.   
  
"It's okay," Katsuya said with a grin. "I won't tell Dad."  
  
Tatsuya turned his head and looked at his brother for the first time. He narrowed his eyes, looking for the stern glare, the disapproving expression, the mouth curved down in perpetual distaste. He looked for the things he expected from his brother. But he saw none of them; Katsuya looked happy and his eyes were gentle.  
  
"I haven't been going to school," he said warily, testing the waters.  
  
"I know, but I trust that you'll still pass your exams."  
  
A swing and a miss. "I haven't been eating right, either."  
  
Katsuya chuckled. "If you want to know a secret, when I was in high school I always ate badly. It was just easier than nagging Mom to make me lunches."  
  
Another miss. Tatsuya was starting to get frustrated. "I've started smoking."  
  
"Now you're just lying." Katsuya tilted his head. "Little brother, did you just come here to try to upset me?"  
  
Tatsuya blinked, taken aback by his called bluff. "Are you my real brother?" he said in disbelief.  
  
Katsuya smiled gently and reached over to take his brother's hand. He felt it twitch in surprise, but it neither withdrew nor warmed to the touch. _Patience,_ he thought, and held it firm. "I've definitely been through a lot of... eye-opening experiences lately," he said diplomatically. "I know I've been hard on you in the past, but someone - something - made me realize that I was being foolish. The most important thing to me is you, and no matter what you do you always will be."  
  
The younger Suou closed his eyes against a sudden torrent of painful memories. _I was never good enough_, he thought. _How have you changed so much? How is it that you know exactly the words I've always wanted to hear from you?_  
  
"You've changed," he hissed through his teeth as he bit back tears.  
  
_That's the funny part,_ thought Katsuya as he squeezed his brother's hand. _I felt this way all along. I never needed Miss Amano or the other-side Tatsuya to show me that. It's the one thing about me that has never changed._  
  
"I just learned to say what I feel, little brother."  
  
That sat that way for a long time, hand in hand.  
  
* * *  
  
Several hours later, the Suou brothers were still on the couch and the credits for an evening drama show were rolling by on the television.  
  
Katsuya sniffled and blotted his eyes with his sleeve. "They were so young," he said.  
  
Tatsuya eyed him from the other end of the sofa. "Are you crying like a woman?" he asked.  
  
"Not at all," Katsuya said defensively. "I've just got something in my eye."  
  
Tatsuya rolled his eyes and let his head fall lazily to the side. "Sorry I'm so tired. I had a really bad day yesterday." He looked up at Katsuya. "I'd rather talk about it over dinner, though," he said hopefully.  
  
The older brother laughed and replaced his glasses. "I thought you'd never ask."  
  
They got up and set about making dinner for themselves. After a brief discussion they decided on Italian, and Katsuya put on a pot of noodles while Tatsuya chopped vegetables for the salad. It was like they were kids again, and they chatted and joked as easily as if nothing had ever come between them. Inside, they both silently marveled that all it took was a little bit of understanding.  
  
By the time they sat down to the table, any remaining awkwardness had melted away, and Katsuya wondered if that hadn't been his brother's intention all along. _He's always acting on so many levels,_ he thought. He served himself some salad and leaned forward onto his elbows.  
  
Again, Tatsuya was the first to speak. "I guess you're wondering what brought me back here in the first place." His eyes didn't leave his bowl as he toyed with his salad. Katsuya waited patiently for him to continue.   
  
"Yesterday, I encountered something very strange," he said after a minute. "I don't know if I'm going crazy, or if..." he trailed off and ran his hands through his hair with a little laugh. "I just couldn't think of anywhere else to go."  
  
Katsuya furrowed his brow and looked at his brother seriously. "What happened, Tatsuya?"  
  
"I met this girl... in a club. She..." he stumbled on his words. "I can't describe her. Big brother, I think she wasn't human. I just knew, like you know in a dream." He paused. "I ran away from her."  
  
Katsuya nodded slowly, watching his younger brother struggle with himself. "And that's not all," Tatsuya added, almost breathlessly. "Later that evening I fell asleep in the park, and I dreamt that I met myself." He lowered his voice. "But it wasn't me at all. He looked like me, but his name was Apollo."   
  
It was all Katsuya could do to not drop his fork. _He awakened his persona. This can't be happening. How much does he remember? _His eye twitched and he said as nonchalantly as possible, "Oh, really...?"  
  
Tatsuya flushed and shook his head angrily. "You think I'm crazy."   
  
"No! No," said Katsuya sharply, drawing a surprised look from his brother. "We've been getting strange reports at the station all this week. I believe very much that what you experienced was real." He hesitated. _I have to be so careful._  
  
Tatsuya sighed. "I wish I could be so sure." He munched on a piece of lettuce thoughtfully. "Maybe I was just dreaming it all."  
  
They ate in silence for a while, and then Katsuya spoke up. "I'm glad you came to me, little brother." He smiled, with no small effort. "We live in strange times. Whatever happened to you, we can get to the bottom of it. " He waited a moment before dropping the other shoe. "But I need you to stay close to me."   
  
Tatsuya started to object, but his brother cut him off. "I don't want to mother you," he said earnestly. "But rather, I want your help. There is a lot going on these days that I don't understand." And that wasn't even a lie.  
  
Tatsuya was silent for a long while, then looked down at his salad and skewered a piece of bell pepper. "I think I cut these the wrong way," he said sullenly.  
  
Katsuya looked over at him, then picked a green ring out of his salad. "I admit it's a bit unconventional," he said, holding it up to his eye. "I would have cut them lengthwise, so that they..." He noticed the sudden crestfallen look that passed over his brother's face and paused. "You know, I never thought of cutting them this way. It's very artistic."  
  
Tatsuya looked up, and then a grateful smile slowly spread across his face. "Big brother?"   
  
"Yeah, Tatsuya?"  
  
"I'll stay with you. We're going to be okay, right?"  
  
Katsuya smiled. "Right."


	4. Chapter 4: No Woman is an Island

---------------  
Chapter 4 – No Woman is an Island  
---------------  
  
_Beep Beep Bring -_  
  
Ulala's phone jumped in her purse and sang out the first three notes of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". She and Baofu were standing at the corner of a busy intersection, and she dug it out frantically while he scanned the street for an opening to cross.   
  
_- Bring Bring Beep -_  
  
"Hello?" she said, plugging her other ear.  
  
_"Ulala!"_It was Maya, her voice thin and shrill over the line. _"Where were you last night?"_  
  
"I stayed at Bao's," she said, raising her voice over the noise.   
  
_"Whaaat?"_Maya shrieked._ "You didn't..."_  
  
"No!" Ulala said hastily. "It's not like that! I was sick!"  
  
The traffic finally slowed and Baofu turned. "Come on, we can get across now," he said, then noticed that she was still on the phone. He sighed and grabbed her free hand, pulling her across the street with him.  
  
"What? No, he's here," said Ulala. "He's holding my hand right now." She giggled evilly and Maya's clucking could be heard even over the street noise.  
  
Baofu growled and yanked her across roughly. They arrived safely on the other side and he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Are you quite done yet?"  
  
"Hold on," she said into the phone, then looked up at Baofu. "Ma-ya wants to know if we want to meet her for lunch somewhere."  
  
He took out a cigarette. "I'm not hungry."  
  
"But I am," she said, pouting slightly.  
  
He shrugged and lit up. "You meet her then."   
  
Ulala looked at him for a moment, then said into the phone, "Ma-ya? Yeah, I'll come. No, Bao's not coming. I dunno, he's just being sullen." She turned back to Baofu. "What are you gonna do?"  
  
A familiar cloud of smoke blew around his head. "I'm going to Sevens. If you feel like working, meet me there." He turned and she watched him set out down the sidewalk, ashes drifting behind him. _I wonder what's eating him?_ she thought.  
  
_"Ulala?"_ Maya's voice startled her. _"Are you still there?"_  
  
"Oh, yeah Ma-ya, sorry. I'll meet you at that coffee shop across from Kismet, how's that sound?"  
  
_"Sure, see you there!" _  
  
Ulala snapped her phone shut and after a moment of thought set out in search of a taxi.   
  
She was glad that she did, because soon after she slid into the back seat of the cab the skies darkened and rain started pattering the windows. As she rode, she leaned her head back and watched the murky water run down the glass. She saw a young man duck into an entryway and thought idly of Baofu, who was undoubtedly very wet and regretting his decision to walk.  
  
She snickered._ Serves him right._  
  
The cab turned a corner and she heard the driver sigh very softly under his breath. Feeling curious, she leaned forward to talk to him.  
  
"What's wrong?" she said, smiling warmly. "Weather getting you down?"  
  
The driver turned his head, slightly surprised. "Oh, sorry, lady. Just got some stuff weighin' on my mind." A light turned red and they came to a stop.  
  
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked.  
  
He looked out the window and his shoulders sagged. Ulala couldn't see much of his face, but he seemed to be getting on middle age, if his thinning hair was any indication. After a moment he spoke. "I guess it's the rain. Makes my back ache, which then makes me think on how old I am, and that's never a good thought, if ya know what I mean."  
  
She laughed. "Yeah, I never want to think about how old I am."  
  
He looked at her in the rear view mirror and grinned. "What, a pretty thing like you? You got years before time starts to catch up on you, m'dear." The light changed and they pulled forward.  
  
She sat back, surprised. "Thank you," she said. "I'm not really used to being told that."  
  
The driver chuckled softly. "What, you don't have nobody special to whisper sweet nothings to you?"  
  
She felt her face flush. "No... well, I mean there is someone, but he doesn't say things like that."  
  
They turned another corner and the café came into view. The driver nodded sagely as he slowed. "See, I could tell the moment you got in. You got it written all over you."   
  
Ulala looked up. "What? What's written all over me?"  
  
"It's something in the face. You look thin, hungry, like you haven't been eatin' enough." He glanced at her in the mirror. "You've got it bad for someone who doesn't get it."   
  
She froze and her eyes widened. "N-Now wait..." she managed to stutter out. "How would you know something like that?"  
  
They came to a stop and the driver turned to face her, his arm slung over the back of the seat. "A girl like you, you've got a lot of love to give. You're always filling other people's buckets, ya know? But," he looked up, searching for the words. "Your bucket's bone dry, has been for some time. If you don't fill your bucket up, you'll just waste away to nothin' inside. So," he waggled a finger at her. "If your somebody special can't be bothered to share the love a little, well... I'd say you should go find somebody else special. Somebody who can."  
  
She looked back at him, her face completely limp. He held her eyes for a moment, then nodded resolutely and turned back to settle in his seat again. Outside, the rain still fell, and as it beat against the windows she imagined that the cab was the only safe place in the world. She reluctantly reached for the handle and pulled it down with a click, pushing the door open with her shoulder. She stepped into the torrent and turned to knock on the driver's side window.  
  
He rolled it down. "Thank you," she said, for lack of anything else to say. His answer was a smile and a nod, and then he pulled away before she had a chance to pay him.  
  
She stood in the rain for a long time before realizing where she was.   
  
* * *  
  
The inside of the café was heated, thankfully, and after Ulala recovered from her daze, she turned and eagerly went inside. _That was very strange,_ she thought simply, sluicing water off of her arms.  
  
"Ulala!" She looked up to see Maya grinning and waving from a booth. She hurried over and greeted her roommate with a soggy smile.  
  
The seat squeaked as she sat down. "I got stuck in the rain," she said apologetically.  
  
Maya pushed a mug of hot cocoa over to her. "Here, I ordered you this." She grinned devilishly. "You should be more careful! You might get sick and have to spend more nights at Baofu's apartment."  
  
Ulala groaned into her cocoa. "Am I going to be hearing about that from you for the rest of my life?"  
  
Maya nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so. It's just too good to pass up."  
  
The waitress came then, bearing two hamburgers and a basket of fries. Ulala's eyes widened. "Ma-ya, are these what I think they are?"  
  
Maya reached for the ketchup. "Yup! One hundred percent dead cow. Love me?"  
  
"You're a goddess. All is forgiven."  
  
They both dug in, too busy eating to hold much of a conversation. Once Ulala had put away her hamburger and half of the fries, she sat back and asked Maya how her day was going.  
  
"Busy," she said around a mouthful of burger. "I just got a new assignment. Something about an accident at Sevens."  
  
Ulala looked up in surprise. "Sevens? Bao and I are looking for a runaway girl who goes there."  
  
"Really?" said Maya. "That's a strange coincidence. Do you remember the girl's name?"  
  
"Mai something," she said. "She's a senior. Now that I think of it, she might be in - " she stopped suddenly.   
  
"Tatsuya's class?" she asked, without looking up from her burger.  
  
Ulala nodded sheepishly. "Uh huh. I'm sorry, I didn't think."  
  
"No, it's okay," Maya said, her eyes softening. "The Tatsuya I knew is gone. This one is... sort of like a piece of his clothing, or something that reminds me of him. It's painful at first, but eventually the association fades and you can see if for what it is." She smiled and reached over to take her roommate's hand. "Thank you for caring, though."  
  
Ulala smiled and squeezed her hand. "That's the spirit! And maybe you'll end up liking this Tatsuya even better," she said conspiratorially.   
  
"Ah," she blushed. "Well, I suppose anything is possible! But I'm definitely not expecting it," she said seriously. "I'm weaning myself off of high school boys. It's a twelve-step program."  
  
Ulala laughed. "Okay, okay, I get the picture. Sue me for being a romantic." She leaned back and took a sip of her drink. "So tell me about this accident."  
  
"Something happened on the roof and a couple of students got roughed up. I think it might've been a prank that went wrong." She bit her lip. "I don't know much about it yet, but I'm going to visit this afternoon."  
  
"That's excellent!" Ulala said happily. "Bao is there right now, and I'm supposed to meet him after lunch. We can go together!"  
  
"Right!" Maya grinned. "Hopefully things will go better than our last visit there, yeah?"  
  
"Ugh," Ulala slumped in her seat. "Yeah. I put in a vote for no serial killers this time."  
  
Maya laughed nervously. "Sorry about that. Bad stuff just seems to follow me around. But on the bright side, it makes me the perfect reporter."  
  
Ulala stuffed more fries into her mouth. "Umph. That's what Bao said about his condom."  
  
Maya's head shot up. "Whaaat?"  
  
Her roommate smiled sweetly. "Nothing, Ma-ya! I, naturally, know nothing about the state of Baofu's stock of prophylactics."  
  
Maya eyed her. "I should hope that... Hey! Stop eating all my fries!" She made a grab for the basket, but Ulala giggled and snatched it out of her reach.  
  
"They're for meee," she sang, and they fought over the table like little girls. Eventually Maya won out, and she sunk her teeth into one victoriously. Her face immediately fell.  
  
"Awww... they're all cold," she pouted.  
  
Ulala grinned and dug her wallet out of her purse. "Why do you think I let you have them?"  
  
"Dummy," Maya said, but there was nothing mean about it.


	5. Chapter 5: The Center of Everything

---------------  
Chapter 5 - The Sky at the Center of Everything  
---------------  
  
At this point it becomes necessary for us to pull back from the story in which we have become involved. Five distinct threads are winding their way through Sumaru City, twisting and knotting together as they spiral in towards... what? Some overwhelming force that ties them to each other, perhaps, or maybe a false order purported by simple coincidence. Either way, they are coming full circle despite themselves, and it isn't going to be long before poor dear history is forced to shuffle the cards and show us her trick one more time.  
  
For you see, the color of the sky over Seven Sisters High School is the color of the sky at the center of everything.  
  
* * *  
  
By the time Maya and Ulala pulled up to the high school, the rain had stopped and the sky had already started to clear. Sunlight poked through dark clouds and turned the air a warm shade of yellow, and as they approached the doors they made hushed reverent small talk about the sudden change in the weather.  
  
"It's a little eerie, don't you think?" said Ulala after they were safely inside. "Beautiful one moment, rainy the next, then beautiful again with rainbows and butterflies. The harmless, non-immortal kind," she added hastily after Maya shot her a look.  
  
"I'm not too worried about it," said Maya as she handed her press papers to the secretary in the front office. "I'm sure it's just the changing season."  
  
The secretary looked the paperwork over and handed it back. "Here you go. The teacher's lounge is right down that hallway and up the stairs. Please be respectful and try not to disturb the students." Maya took the papers and gave the woman an odd look before turning to usher Ulala out of the office.  
  
"She certainly seemed nonchalant about whatever happened here," she said under her breath as they climbed the stairs. "Maybe it was nothing serious after all."  
  
"Knowing you?" said Ulala. "I'd say the chances of that are slim to none."  
  
Of course, she was right.  
  
* * *  
  
Katsuya had gotten the call earlier that day. He'd been wrestling with paperwork all morning and his fingers were sticky with correction fluid when he picked up the phone. "Yeah, Suou here," he said gruffly, wedging it between his shoulder and his ear.  
  
It was the new captain, a rough middle-aged man by the name of Michel. "Suou? I need you to head out to Sevens this afternoon. A couple kids got into a fight and got beat up pretty bad."  
  
He suppressed an exasperated sigh. "Sir? Isn't that police work?"  
  
"Everyone's a cop these days, Suou. Someone's gotta check it out, make sure there's not something more sinister going on. Today, that person is you. Got that?"   
  
Katsuya nodded, trying to pick up a piece of paper without using his fingers. "Yessir, I'll take a look," he said, and let the phone slide down his arm to the receiver.  
  
He finished up the stack of reports he was working on and set them aside gratefully. _At least it's an excuse to get out of the station,_ he told himself as he pulled on his jacket.   
  
_Still, I always get the dull assignments._  
  
* * *  
  
Tatsuya was trapped in history class.   
  
Yesterday, for what he could only assume was a lapse in sanity, he'd returned to live with his brother again. They'd come to an understanding that he could accompany Katsuya on basic assignments as long as he agreed to go to school three days a week, and it had seemed like a pretty okay deal at the time. Today was only his first day back, and he was already starting to regret the whole affair.   
  
He'd never taken school as seriously as most kids his age, but he used to at least show up most of the time. He shifted in his seat and glanced around at the host of faces around him, some attentive, some dazed, all unfamiliar. _This uniform doesn't fit me anymore_, he thought simply. Maybe he was supposed to be here, but he certainly didn't belong here.   
  
_Where do you belong, Tatsuya Suou?_  
  
He frowned and brushed the thought away as the history teacher scraped a list of dates onto the board. He turned to look out the window at the patchwork clouded sky, a dull restlessness weighing in his stomach.  
  
After a long moment he looked back down at his notebook, returning to a doodle of a tall, many-branched tree covered in little leaves.  
  
* * *  
  
Baofu sat cross-legged on the roof of the school, his fingers steepled as he looked thoughtfully at a bloodstain on the pavement. Warning tape that had been strung half-heartedly around the area flapped in the wind, and the new sunlight threw long shadows across the ground.  
  
_Amazing,_ he thought sardonically. _I thought I'd find something at the school, and here it is. _  
  
He reached down and touched another mark on the pavement, a very faint charcoal-gray line that curved away from the tape and the bloodstains. His long fingers traced the shape, barely visible even in the wash of post-rain sunlight, until he had to stand to follow it. It ran straight for a while, then turned back to the scene in a large, bumpy circle.  
  
Baofu let it go and straightened up, a sudden premonition raising the hairs on his neck. He ran to the side and hunted for a sharp rock, eventually settling for a lump of talc that he found by the door. He returned and bent down to follow the line again, this time tracing it with the chalky white rock. After half an hour of squinting and scraping, he threw the rock aside and stood up to look at the markings.  
  
The shape burned faintly into the pavement was unmistakable. Baofu looked at it for a long time before turning away, genuine fear singing in his heart.  
  
_What happened here?_ he thought, and it was all he could bring himself to think.  
  
_What happened here?_  
  
* * *  
  
This is the story so far. It was 2:47 when Ulala and Miss Amano encountered Katsuya on the second story stairwell. They exchanged surprised greetings for two minutes, and approximately six minutes later they passed by Tatsuya's classroom door, where by some quirk of fortune they paused to compare notes on the incident that had occurred earlier in the day. Precisely five minutes after that, a tinkling melody over the speaker system hailed the end of the school day, to which Tatsuya responded with great enthusiasm. After three and a half minutes of bundling his things, he threw himself out the room and, naturally, ran headfirst into Maya, who grabbed onto Ulala, who in turn stumbled into Katsuya, and the whole crew went down without so much as a whimper.   
  
From 3:03 to 3:05, there was much apologizing and extracting of tangled arms and legs, followed by five minutes of nervous glances and awkward introductions. At 3:10 the boys and girls separated to consult each other on plans of action, and at 3:12 they regrouped and Katsuya announced that he was bringing his little brother along to investigate the scene. The girls agreed after no small amount of elbowing and shushing, and it took them three minutes to make their way up to the roof. As fate would have it, for fate has a rather sick sense of humor, the minute hand on every clock in Sumaru City struck the quarter hour when they slammed open the door and tramped noisily into a very rumpled-looking Baofu.  
  
Whatever god of destiny that brought these five people within inches of each other once again was having a good laugh wherever he was, for not only had he done it; he'd done it in record time.  
  
For about ten long seconds they stood in stunned silence before Ulala pushed her way to the front. "Hey Bao," she said with an awkward smile. "I brought some friends."  
  
Baofu looked at her, then at Tatsuya. "Nice to meet you," he said dully. "But this is no place for kids." He turned back to his outlines.  
  
Tatsuya stepped forward with a wounded expression. "Now wait just a -"   
  
"Baofu," Katsuya interrupted, "this is my brother, Tatsuya. I said he could come along. He wants to see me work." He couldn't hide the proud note in his voice.  
  
Baofu turned and looked at the detective with an upraised eyebrow. After a moment he said slowly, "I suppose that's your prerogative, Suou." _I hope you know what you're doing_, he added silently, glancing sideways at Maya. _And who you're hurting with your stubborn pride._  
  
Tatsuya looked from Baofu to Katsuya and back. "Er, big brother," he said, "what exactly are we supposed to be looking at?"  
  
Maya, who had been hesitating by the door, stepped forward. "There was a fight," she said in a professional voice, flipping open her notepad. "Two male students, both seniors, were involved. They both suffered bad injuries, were treated at the emergency room, and are now resting at home." She looked up. "That's all we know."  
  
Ulala nodded. "No one could tell us what happened, just that the janitor found the two kids on the roof, unconscious and all bloody, and called an ambulance."   
  
"Oh," said Tatsuya simply, then added sheepishly, "I didn't know them."  
  
Their conversation was interrupted by a sharp noise from Katsuya, who had moved to stand next to Baofu. He turned around with a somber expression on his face. "Miss Amano, Miss Serizawa, you should see this."  
  
They stepped forward and stood at the edge of the scene, the warning tape fluttering across the toes of their shoes. The sun hung lazily in the sky and two crows hopped and chattered along the roof. The five of them stood in silence for a long while as they stared at Baofu's faintly chalked outlines.  
  
"They're people," Ulala finally said, her voice laced with fear. "Shapes of people."  
  
"They're human shadows," Baofu said grimly, taking a cigarette out of his coat pocket. "Burned right into the pavement." He lit up and took a long drag before looking over at Katsuya. "Needless to say, I don't think this was just a simple fight."  
  
Tatsuya swallowed dryly. "Then what did happen?" he asked. He couldn't take his eyes off of the two faint shadows on the ground. They seemed to twist and stretch in the fading sun, the taller one with its arms thrown over its head in... what? Pain? Fear? He ran his fingers through his hair and suppressed a shudder.  
  
Katsuya bent to inspect the bloodstains more closely. "This is odd," he said. "Baofu, did you notice the pattern in the blood here? These marks," he pointed to three small puddles, "are clearly drips, as from a cut. But these," he motioned to an arc that curved away from them. "These are from a scuffle. It's in a streak, see? Like someone fell and scraped their knee or hand across the pavement."  
  
"Why is it so long, then?" asked Maya. "Wouldn't a scrape like that be short? You wouldn't drag yourself over the pavement."  
  
Baofu looked straight ahead, as though he were watching something that no one else could see. "This one was crawling," he said, without looking down. "He was pulling himself away."  
  
Ulala hugged herself. "Then what was the other one doing?" she asked slowly.  
  
Baofu squinted. "The other one was kneeling where those puddles are." He turned towards her. "Look at how perfect they are. The blood dripped from about a foot above the ground, not far enough to splash."  
  
Her eyes widened in sudden understanding. "One was crouched, nursing a wound, and the other was struggling to get away," she said. "They weren't fighting each other, were they?" Baofu simply looked away and inhaled deeply from his cigarette.  
  
Katsuya was silent a moment, then straightened up. "I'm calling the station," he said resolutely. "I want to get somebody up here to analyze these marks. If there was a third party involved," he set his jaw. "Then these boys were victims."  
  
Tatsuya spoke up and said what they were all thinking. "Victims of what?"  
  
No one, not even Baofu, had an answer to that. Katsuya took out his phone and wandered off to the side to make his calls as Ulala and Maya spoke with each other in hushed tones. Baofu walked to the edge of the roof, looking out over the city as he finished off his cigarette, and Tatsuya just stood where he was.  
  
_My brother sure is friends with some weird people_, he thought as he looked around at the four of them. He sighed and shrugged out of his jacket, slumping against the door to the stairwell._ I just can't wait to get home._ He loosened his collar and rubbed his neck. It never occurred to me that this might be hard work, he thought woefully and closed his eyes.  
  
Less than two meters away, Maya was slowly breaking down. "Ulala..." she pleaded quietly. Ulala cooed and stroked her back, leading her away from the three men.  
  
"Come on, let's go over here," she said helpfully. "Breathe in, out... that's right. Remember what you told me earlier! Think of him as an old shoe."  
  
Maya nodded bravely. "Right, just a shoe." She glanced at him over her shoulder and her eyes softened. "Just a shoe... a gorgeous, young, virile..."  
  
"Ma-ya!" Ulala turned her roommate's head back towards her. "Not that kind of shoe. Think old, smelly shoe." She fanned Maya's face with her hand. "Think shoe that reminds you of an ex-boyfriend you hate."  
  
Maya gave her a blank look. Ulala rolled her eyes. "I suppose you've never had the benefit of that experience. Remind me to tell you I hate you when you're feeling less vulnerable."  
  
"Miss Amano, Miss Serizawa!" Katsuya called from behind them. They turned to see him collecting Tatsuya. "The forensics team is coming, so I'm going to take Tatsuya home." He waggled his phone in the air and mouthed 'call me'. Ulala nodded and they waved goodbye.  
  
After the brothers had disappeared down the stairs, Baofu wandered over to where they were standing. They all stood in silence for a moment, then he turned to Maya and asked, "Are you okay?"  
  
Startled, the two girls looked at each other, then back to Baofu. "Yeah," Maya said with a smile. "I'm going to be fine, thank you."  
  
Ulala patted her shoulder proudly. "That's my girl!" she said. "Come on, I'll take you home."  
  
Maya turned to her. "Actually," she said hastily. "I need to go back to Kismet tonight. You know what a slave driver my boss is! I'll just see you at home later, okay?" She gave Ulala a knowing grin and disappeared through the door, waving cheerily to them both.  
  
Ulala numbly watched the door close behind her roommate. A few crickets chirped through the silence, and finally she turned to Baofu.   
  
"So," she said with a nervous laugh. "Wanna get a drink?"


	6. Intermission: The Story So Far

[Note - This isn't part of the fic, it's just a little something to help people who haven't played the games, or haven't played them with obsessive attention to detail. This summary of the Persona 2 plot and characters is strictly to aid understanding of this fanfiction - to outline the main characters, clarify what choices I made and what aspects of their personalities are relevant to the story. It is not in any way supposed to be comprehensive or 'canon', and much of it is in fact subjective. Also, major spoilers ahead for both Persona 2 games. Thank you, and you may now return to your regularly scheduled fanfiction!]  
  
--------------- Tsumi to Batsu: The Story So Far ---------------  
  
Oof, where to start? Okay, firstly, there are two Persona 2 games, Tsumi (Innocent Sin) and Batsu (Eternal Punishment). In Tsumi, the player character is Tatsuya Suou, a senior at Seven Sisters High School. To understand the Tsumi storyline, you have to understand his past.  
  
When he was eight, he met two other boys and a girl at Araya Shrine, and they played a game together involving masks, which gave them their name for their little crew - the Masquerade. They often returned to the shrine to play their game, and one day they met an older girl there named Maya Amano. She started playing with them, too, and she taught them how to play a very special game called 'Persona-sama' that would allow them to see their futures. It was this game that awakened the persona power in them.  
  
One day Maya came to play and told them that her family was moving away. Since they all looked up to her and didn't want her to leave, they locked her into the shrine so that she wouldn't be able to go. Tatsuya gave them trouble about it, so they locked him in with her. Maya did her best to comfort Tatsuya, but that night a pyromaniac, Tatsuya Sudou, came to the shrine and set it on fire. Maya helped Tatsuya get out, but then she was trapped, and he wouldn't leave despite her yelling for him to run away. He tried to stop Sudou, who then stabbed him. This prompted young Tatsuya to call on Vulcanus, his persona, who appeared and kicked the living crap out of the bad guy, completely disfiguring his face. Fight fire with fire, they say...  
  
Well, Maya did get out of the shrine, but since Tatsuya was unconscious he didn't see her. The Masquerade crew was so traumatized by the event - for they thought they'd killed Maya - that they hid their masks and went their separate ways, forcing themselves to forget about the incident.  
  
At the beginning of Tsumi, the Masquerade kids are all in high school, and Maya is sent to Seven Sisters to investigate a rumor that you can make your dreams come true by calling your own cell phone number. There, she runs into the Masquerade (minus one person...) and they are fatefully reunited. Of course, none of them remember what happened.  
  
Begin the adventure. I'm not going to relate the whoooole thing, because that would take forever, and frankly not much of it is relevant. They do a lot of ass-kicking and shadow-confronting and deadbeat dad killing. It's all very satisfying.  
  
In the Persona 2 universe, there are two major gods, one representing order, or the goodness in humanity, and the other representing chaos, or the badness in humanity. The former is Philemon, and the latter is Nyarlathotep. Though Philemon is 'good' and Nyarly is 'evil', they are really two sides of the same coin, and at the end of the game you discover that they were conspiring to test the persona users. They wanted to observe them and see if humanity was capable of achieving a higher level. Both were involved in the ruse, but Nyarly's intentions were never good. He summons one of their teachers from Sevens, who picks up Longinus, the spear that pierced the side of Christ, and stabs Maya through the chest with it. Because of the legend of the spear, they can't heal the wound and Maya dies. Then, as if that weren't enough, the planets align and everything on Earth is destroyed, except for Sumaru City, which is on top of a big floating ship thing.  
  
Philemon, because he's just that nice of a guy, tells the party that they can fix what happened by giving up their memories of what happened, and rewriting time such that they never meet in the shrine. Doing so would create a new world that would be safe from Nyarly, and none of the destruction would ever happen. Of course, they agree, and everything is reset just like he said.  
  
In the new world, everything is as it should be, except for one thing: Tatsuya. He was unable to give up his memories, because he loved his friends too much, and he didn't want to be alone again. At the end of Tsumi, he bumps into Maya at a train station, and all his memories come flooding back.  
  
This is also the beginning of Batsu. Things begin very similarly in this game; Maya is sent to Seven Sisters again, but this time she is with Ulala, and she is investigating the Joker curse, not the Joker charm. At the school, they run into Katsuya, who is investigating a series of serial murders that he believes are linked to the Joker. Soon after, they come face to face with him, and he's none other than good old Tatsuya Sudou. They all summon their personae to fight him - apparently even in this world the persona-sama game got around.  
  
Philemon shows his pretty face and explains the persona thing to them, as well as enlists them to fight evil and all that jazz. Philemon is represented by a golden butterfly, by the way.  
  
Anyway, Maya, Ulala, and Katsuya join forces with Baofu, a rumormonger they meet over the internet. Together, they go to find Tatsuya Sudou and start piecing together the whole story. Much political intrigue and demon bashing is had by all, until at last Tatsuya Suou joins the party, and reveals the truth of his situation to them. It turns out that he is actually the consciousness of the other world's Tatsuya residing in this world's Tatsuya's body. This is all a result of his refusal to forget his memories.  
  
Much more adventuring commences, until we find ourselves at the end of Batsu. Here, you get to fight Nyarly and actually kill him this time! Of course, he's not really dead, since he is the evil that lurks in people's hearts, but it still feels good. Tatsuya, unsurprisingly, reveals that he cannot stay in this world because it would close the rift between the two and cause its eventual destruction. So, his consciousness leaves this world's Tatsuya's body, and things pretty much go back to normal again.  
  
That's when Dragon Cross begins.  
  
--------------- Dramatis Personae ---------------  
  
- Ulala Serizawa - Age: 24 -  
  
Ulala is most easily described as your 'average woman'. Though she is young, attractive, and pays close attention to personal style, she is also horribly insecure and unsure about what to do with her life. I get the sense that she expected to meet a husband in school, and when her life didn't go that way she found herself in the real world without much of a plan.  
  
As a result of her tendency to dabble in many different hobbies, she is versatile and multitalented. Still, she's a jack-of-all-trades, master of none, as she never devotes herself to mastering any one thing. Like many young women looking for husbands, she finds odd jobs as an office lady (a kind of secretary) or in sales, but doesn't commit to a career.  
  
Despite being a good, nurturing person (or perhaps because of it), she has terrible luck with men. She wants to find her special someone and get married more than anything, but unfortunately her boyfriends seem to take advantage of that weakness. Her desperation has made it really hard for her to stay in relationships, even with good guys. I guess she ends up scaring them away, or maybe they decide she is better company as a friend, when she isn't pressuring them to commit.  
  
After the Batsu story, she started a mansearching business with Baofu. Basically, they are like private detectives that look for long lost relatives/friends/whatever. They also handle missing persons cases that don't have a criminal element, like finding runaway kids. Right now their business is still fairly new, but they have been getting lots of clients as a result of the strange aftereffects of Nyar's manipulations.  
  
She's been best friends with Maya since high school, and they have been roommates since they graduated. They've had their share of problems, and one of the things Ulala had to work through when she confronted her shadow- self was her jealousy of Maya. Since Maya is so dedicated to her dream, she is much more stable than Ulala, and she of course has better luck with men. The events of Batsu led them to work through their problems, though, and their friendship at the end of the story was whole and genuine. They will probably be good friends for their whole lives.  
  
Her closest male friend is her co-worker Baofu, an ex-wire tapper that she became close to over the course of Batsu. He accepts her more than other men because he sees her for what she is, instead of the carefully constructed front she puts up for most people. I think this is probably because she didn't see him as a romantic prospect at first (he is, after all, eight years her senior and was involved in illegal things when they met - not really husband material), and so she didn't try to impress him. Once she found that he accepted her this way, she started to try to be closer to him, and eventually they become very good friends.  
  
Is she in love with him? I think the feelings she has for him are closer to love than anything she's experienced before. But since she doesn't know how he feels about her, she's careful not to devote her heart to him (she is very insecure, after all). She's very happy with what they have, and she definitely hopes that it'll someday turn into more, but I don't think she would try to force it on Baofu because his friendship is so valuable to her.  
  
About Ulala's main persona, Asteria: Asteria was a goddess (and a titan) who didn't want anything to do with Zeus's 'love', and to escape him she turned into a quail and dove into the sea, where she transformed into the island of Delos. Later, her sister Leto fled to this island to give birth to the twins Apollo and Artemis (Tatsuya and Maya's main personae, respectively). Her name means Starry One or Flaming One (as in a meteor or comet), and she's sometimes considered the goddess of fire.  
  
- Baofu (Kaoru Saga) - Age: 32 -  
  
Baofu starts out as a pretty shady character, a wiretapper who runs a rumor site online. At first the other characters don't know much about him, but they eventually learn that he is actually Kaoru Saga, an ex-special agent who was reported to be dead. His past is complex, but basically he was assigned to investigate the Taiwanese mafia and their connection to the Big Bad Guy, Tatsuzou Sudou. He worked with a woman named Miki Asai, who he was presumably also involved with romantically. While they were on a mission in Taiwan, they were both attacked, and though he survived he was unable to save her. He was traumatized by the event, and he disappeared for several years before returning to Japan under the name of Baofu.  
  
He basically lived to get revenge on Sudou, so his wiretapping and rumor page franchises also helped him collect information. However, in the course of Batsu he discovers the futility of revenge and atones for what happened, even finding a new partner, Ulala. This time, he decides to use his gift for investigation in a more helpful way, hence the mansearching business that they start up. He insists on being called 'Baofu', though, because he sees it as a fresh start and he wants to leave Kaoru Saga behind (as well as protect himself from any lingering grudges against the name).  
  
Baofu is an extremely intelligent and talented individual, by far the most out of all the main characters. For this reason, he never really relates to any of them, though he does respect them and considers them as friends. For years after the incident with Miki, he lived a completely solitary life, so he isn't really the most socially adept person in the world. He sometimes clashes with Katsuya, because they work in similar fields but have very different methodologies, but they have learned to at least be civil to each other.  
  
His natural intelligence also makes him uncomfortable with the use of personae. He is willing to use them because he knows they make him stronger, but it bothers him greatly to be dependant on them. This proves to be extremely problematic for him, because his main persona, Prometheus, is clairvoyant. So Baofu is always having premonitions and strong intuitions, and that really upsets him because he wants to think everything out logically. He was hoping that after the final confrontation with Nyarlathotep, he wouldn't have to use his persona anymore and it wouldn't be a problem. However, it seems like he hasn't been able to escape it, and he has even been suffering from nightmares from his persona.  
  
As for how he feels about Ulala... well, he's accepted her as a business partner, and that's a big step for him. He definitely finds her attractive; however, he's not very good with emotions, and so I don't think he really knows what he feels for her or how to express it. Right now I think he's come to need her, and he sort of assumes she'll always be there. But until she confronts him, he won't make any moves because it's not in his nature to do so. If he's going to learn the ways of romance, someone is going to have to take his hand and lead him through it.  
  
About Baofu's main persona, Prometheus: Prometheus was a titan who is lauded as one of the 'fathers' of mankind. He and his brother, Epimetheus, shaped all the Earth's creatures from clay and set out to give them each a gift from the gods. However, when they got to humanity, they had no more gifts left to give. Prometheus saw with his foresight that humans were to be the superior race, so he appealed to Athene to help him fly to the Sun, where he lit his torch. He returned to Earth and gave man the heavenly fire, which was so godly a gift that it offended Zeus. Zeus (what a great guy) had the ulterior motive of wanting to use Prometheus's foresight to predict which of his children would try to overthrow him, and the fire thing just gave him an excuse to go after the poor guy. When Prometheus resisted, Zeus ordered him chained to Mount Caucasus where a great eagle came every day to feast on his liver. His name means Forethought, appropriately enough.  
  
- Maya Amano - Age: 23 -  
  
Maya is a young journalist working for the teen magazine "Coolest" at Kismet Publications. It's always been a dream of hers to work as a reporter because that's what her father did, and she wants to continue his legacy. However, he spent a lot of time in the field and it eventually claimed his life, and so she probably won't throw herself into it like he did. Like Ulala, she's very outgoing, and despite losing her father at a young age she is very optimistic and positive. Staying happy and following your dreams, even in the face of adversity, are the two most important things to her.  
  
Even though she has to work long hours, she really loves her job and it seems to get her involved in some interesting dilemmas. The event that started the Batsu storyline was her assignment to investigate the Joker Curse at Seven Sisters High School. Because they were supposed to go to a party that night, she ended up taking Ulala along. Of course, instead of being a cut-and-dry assignment, the principal was murdered and Maya was revealed as the next target of the serial killer. Hence, they both got wrapped up in more than they planned for.  
  
At home, Maya is a complete slob. Her apartment with Ulala is always a mess, and it's completely her fault. It doesn't bother her, though - she doesn't feel the need to pretend to be a good homemaker. Her relationship with her roommate is still good, though. Maya thinks of Ulala as a sister and really looks out for her. Even though they don't see eye to eye on everything, what Maya wants most is for her to be happy. For this reason, she is really supportive of Ulala's relationship with Baofu, because she sees him as capable and responsible enough to take care of her. She doesn't look down on Ulala at all, but she is acutely aware of how flaky she can be and worries about her a lot.  
  
Maya's own romantic life is no less complicated than Ulala's, though. In the course of Batsu, she became involved with the young Tatsuya. She was very attracted to him on a physical level (after all, he is a very handsome boy), and because of the experiences they shared she began to see him as her knight in shining armor. However, their difference in age posed a problem in her mind, as well as the knowledge that the Tatsuya she knew would eventually have to go back to his own world. I think she was always thinking of these problems, and though she greatly desired him she was careful not to get too attached to him.  
  
Since the whole experience of losing that Tatsuya proved to be very painful for her, she sort of threw herself into her work after it was all over. She hasn't wanted to think much about her romantic life because she isn't over him yet. Seeing the new Tatsuya is hard for her because she has to confront her physical attraction to him, something that shames her I think. Not only is he younger, but she also wants to believe that love is deeper than that, so her attraction to the new him makes her uncomfortable.  
  
Her relationship with Katsuya is tenuous right now. She likes him a lot, but because she was involved with Tatsuya she never really looked at him romantically. Of course, the revelation that he was in love with her came as a big surprise. Ulala is good friends with him, but for Maya it's more complicated, so she hasn't seen him too much. Of course, she's been so busy with work that she hasn't seen much of anyone.  
  
About Maya's main persona, Artemis: Artemis is Apollo's twin sister, and technically the older of the two (Apollo is Tatsuya's persona, so it's strangely appropriate if you consider their relationship from Tsumi). She's known for her resistance to love of any kind, and she remained a virgin her whole life. Like Apollo, she is both kind and cruel, and though she is the great protector of women, she is also responsible for those who die during childbirth. She bears a golden bow and arrows, like her brother, and together they are known as the 'twins of justice' for they were often sent together to punish mortals for incursions against the gods.  
  
- Katsuya Suou - Age: 25 -  
  
Katsuya's main priority in life is his little brother, Tatsuya. When they were younger, their father was involved in the investigation of an arsonist who turned out to be Tatsuzou Sudou's son Tatsuya. Because Sudou is the Big Bad and the Big Bad generally protects its own, their father was framed for an embezzlement scheme and forced to resign from his position. While Katsuya was old enough to understand his father's motivation to do so (protecting his family, for one), Tatsuya was not and was disappointed in his father. Katsuya reacted to the situation by growing up fast and taking control of the family, something that Tatsuya grew to resent. Katsuya rode his little brother a lot about his grades and his performance in school because he was trying to fill the role of their father. Of course, he was only doing it because he loved his brother so much and wanted him to be successful, but Tatsuya didn't see it that way, and they became estranged.  
  
Katsuya was an excellent student, and even though he was really interested in being a patissier (a professional dessert chef), he ended up going to law school so that he could both continue his father's legacy and do something reliable. Even then, he felt that he had to take care of the family, his little brother especially, so he gave up on his dream. This is something that came up when he confronted his shadow-self in the Batsu storyline (the other thing was his love for Maya, but we'll get to that).  
  
Now Katsuya works as a detective, and he seems to be very successful there despite his young age. Part of this is due to his tenacity, but the fact that his father used to work there probably helps too. He's good at his job because he is thorough, and though it wasn't his ideal he certainly doesn't hate it. He lived in a dormitory for single police officers for a long time, but after Batsu he arranged to take guardianship of his brother and they gave him a subsidized apartment.  
  
Just like Maya, Katsuya's experiences with the other-side Tatsuya were painful. He wanted nothing more than to be reunited with his brother and for them to be close again. It was hard for both of them, but they eventually made amends - the only catch was that it wasn't his Tatsuya. Once he was gone, all the work they'd done towards fixing their relationship was erased and Katsuya had to start all over again. However, he retained what he'd learned about his little brother and that knowledge helped him to understand the new Tatsuya better.  
  
Katsuya is popular with women because he's both handsome and nice (and a good cook to boot), but he's pretty oblivious to them. During Batsu he grew to love Maya, although that may be just because he was forced to spend a lot of time with her, and so she's the first woman he ever really felt he understood. Of course, he had to suppress his feelings for her because she was clearly involved with his brother; I get the sense that it really wasn't too much of a trial for him, because he is such a gentle person that he would easily make the sacrifice for their happiness.  
  
As to whether he's still interested in her, I'd say that he has put the thought on the back burner for now because he's so focused on fixing things up with his brother. I think that even once they are stable he would probably lay low for a while because the last thing he wants is to make her uncomfortable. But he definitely won't forget about her.  
  
About Katsuya's main persona, Hyperion: Hyperion was a titan and the god of observation. He fathered Helios, and is sometimes represented as the original sun god, who was eventually succeeded by Helios (who was in turn eclipsed by Apollo, no pun intended). Attributed to him is the first understanding of astronomy and the movements of the celestial bodies; mainly because he was the only god who cared enough to sit there and watch them. His name means One Who Watches From Above.  
  
- Tatsuya Suou - Age: 18 -  
  
Tatsuya is difficult to write about, because the boy we get to know as Tatsuya in Batsu is actually Tatsuya from Tsumi occupying this one's body. At the end of Batsu, the other-side Tatsuya goes home, leaving a whole new person without the experiences of either of these adventures. This event impacts Maya and Katsuya dramatically, as now they both have to adjust to the new Tatsuya. This is the Tatsuya in my story.  
  
Basically, Tatsuya's childhood experiences remain unchanged, except that he never met his friends from Tsumi (Jun, Eikichi, Lisa, and Maya). However, he still has his issues with his father, and he was still estranged from his brother as a result of that. He slacked his way through high school as his way of rebelling, and by his senior year he was cutting class a whole lot. He's naturally intelligent, and school bores him, so he pretty much hates being there, especially since he doesn't have many friends there.  
  
After the Batsu adventure, Katsuya insisted on taking him in, which was fine with him because it allowed him even more freedom. He ended up staying at a local mechanic's garage in exchange for help on the weekends, an arrangement that suited his desire for independence and the chance to work. He feels very much like he wants to grow up and start having his own life.  
  
He's getting to the point where he's starting to question what he'll do after high school. I don't think he wants to be a mechanic forever, and he's curious about police work because Katsuya does it and he assumes it's easy. As much as Katsuya bothers him, he does really respect his older brother. He always felt bad that Katsuya didn't approve of his life, and most of his resentment came from the fact that he hated feeling guilty. Really, what he wanted was for his older brother to accept him for who he was.  
  
In many ways, this Tatsuya is just an average kid. He likes going to clubs to people-watch, working on his bike, and hanging out with his friends. Generally, he spends time with whoever can tolerate him, which tend to be the more mature, intelligent kids. He has a beautiful face, so he does get attention from girls, but many of them are intimidated by his brooding personality.  
  
In terms of his abilities as a persona user, since the persona was already awakened in that body, he does have the ability to use them, even if it's latent. However, the moment he's put under any duress, the persona will surface and come to his aid, and then he'll have some issues to deal with. He'll be very confused by being thrust into the world of demons and personae and magic, because really he's encountering it for the first time. Also, he's naturally skeptical, so he'd probably worry that he was going crazy.  
  
In terms of the rift between the two worlds, at the end of Batsu we learn that the more the Tsumi kids remember about the other world, the more weirdness happens in this one. That's why the other-side Tatsuya couldn't stay; his presence would have eventually torn apart the Batsu world. It's also for that reason that the Batsu characters try not to expose him to too much that might trigger his memory. He'll probably never fully remember what happened, but if he starts to have déjà vu experiences it could be a window to a world of trouble.  
  
About Tatsuya's main persona, Apollo: Apollo (Artemis's twin brother, remember) is typically portrayed as a very beautiful young man, and is also a powerful god to boot. He uses a bow (sometimes depicted as silver, sometimes gold) and vicious arrows that are said to bring death and plague. But, like Artemis, he is both terrible and beautiful, for he carries a lyre as well as a weapon and uses its music to enact healing in the world. His first love was the result of a prank by Eros, who shot him with the golden arrow of love and shot the object of his affection, a nymph named Daphne, with the iron arrow of hatred. Daphne immediately became averse to love of any kind and rejected all her suitors, including Apollo. However, his infatuation was such that he chased her across the world until she fell in exhaustion. Just as he came upon her, she begged Zeus to help her escape his affection. Apollo could only watch as she changed into the beautiful, immobile laurel tree, which he then declared his sacred tree and used a branch from it as his crown. 


	7. Chapter 6: Forethought and Starry Eyed

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Chapter 6 - Forethought and Starry-Eyed  
---------------  
  
"Aw, c'mon Bao," Ulala whined as they made their way downtown.   
  
Baofu had no intention of taking her drinking again. "I have no intention of taking you drinking again."  
  
"I had food today, though!" she insisted. "What if I only have one? Something weak and girly?"  
  
He shook his head. "I said forget it. I'm not in the mood. Besides," he added, "I want to stop by the office and look over the file for the Sevens girl."  
  
"Ohh," Ulala said, nodding in understanding. "You think she's related to this, don't you? No no," she stuck out her nose in mock bravery. "You don't have to tell me all your big secrets. I can make this sacrifice for you." He gave her a look and she grinned.   
  
"You sure are dramatic," he said, trying hard to not sound amused.   
  
She shrugged it off easily, humming under her breath. "You sure are grump-y," she sang.  
  
They came to an intersection, and Baofu turned to cross the street. "I'll be at work," he said over his shoulder. "Call me if Badge Boy has anything interesting to say." She nodded and waved.  
  
He followed the street for a couple of blocks before turning south towards their office. It was a beautiful night and a cool dampness hung in the air. It was the kind of weather he liked, because it cleared his head as he walked, and because the quiet chill allowed a handful of stars to shine even through the heavy city glow.   
  
When he got there, the street they worked on was completely dark, save for two elliptical pools of light that fell from the street lamps. A cold northern breeze swelled up, stirring the leaves of a tree that lived in a concrete pot outside of their building. The branches waved gently over his head and a few stray leaves blew around his feet.   
  
His hands shook slightly as he fumbled for his keys, and he pressed the wrong one up against the lock twice before finally finding the one that fit. The door swung open noiselessly and closed behind him with a muted thump. Inside, the small office was warm and dark and somehow both inviting and unsettling in its quiet. He hesitated at the entrance. He flipped the switch that triggered the halogen floor lamp and dim yellow light blanketed the room, revealing nothing more ominous than worn furniture and dusty corners.  
  
_My imagination_, he thought as he shook his head and plopped down in his chair. _I'm just worked up over the incident at the school._  
  
And after all, who wouldn't be unsettled by what they found there? He tried to piece it together in his head as he rifled through a stack of loose papers. The boys were attacked by something; he had no doubt of that. The marks at the scene were enough to demonstrate that they couldn't have been fighting each other. Of course, what exactly they _had_ fought was another matter entirely. He found the papers on the Ogawa girl and grunted victoriously, pulling them out of the pile.  
  
He looked them over, scanning the notes her parents had made for any reference to either of the boys. Unfortunately, it seemed she was a real nowhere girl; she wasn't involved in any clubs, didn't associate with a group of friends, never had a boyfriend or any apparent romantic interest at all. He pursed his lips. _I hope Suou or Amano gets a chance to question the kids who were attacked,_ he thought pensively. If they knew the girl, that would at least be a start.   
  
_You know they won't talk_, a voice whispered in his head. _And you know why they won't._  
  
He set his jaw and forced the thought away. _I'm going to reason this out_, he told himself firmly. _No more lucky guesses. No more strange coincidences. There has to be a logical explanation._  
  
It was the one thing he had always known, the one thing he insisted on in the face of everything else. _There's always a logical explanation_. It simply couldn't be any other way. He looked intensely at the papers fanned out on his desk, searching for a clue, for anything that could tie all the ideas and theories together into something he could work with.   
  
Despite himself, he felt a familiar sick dread creep into his heart. His eyes darkened as terrible visions played across his mind. There was no reason to the intuitions that plagued him; there was no order, no explanation to comfort him. The voice in his head whispered through chaotic thoughts: _You can't escape yourself._  
  
"Like hell I can't," Baofu said angrily. He shoved himself back, the wheels of the old chair squeaking at the sudden movement. He reached one long arm under his desk and searched around until his hand closed on the neck of the bottle he hid there. He pulled it out, his lips curling into a sardonic smile.  
  
"Like hell I can't," he said again, and broke open the seal.  
  
* * *  
  
Ulala wandered around downtown aimlessly for a while, not tired enough to go home but too restless to get any work done. She found herself near the mall she used to work at, so she decided to stop in and take a look around. She was pawing through a rack of skirts on clearance when her phone buzzed in her purse.  
  
She pulled it out and stuck it between her ear and shoulder. "Hello?" she said, picking up a dark blue miniskirt.   
  
It was Maya. _"Hey Ulala,"_ she said. _"What are you up to?"_  
  
"Very important things," Ulala said, holding the skirt up to her waist. "I'm looking at skirts. How do you feel about velvet?"  
  
_"But you don't need a new skirt."_  
  
"Hmm," she said, putting it back on the rack. "You're right, definitely not velvet. Are you home yet?"   
  
Maya was talking to someone in the background. After a minute her voice came back over the line. _"Uh, yeah, I don't have much time to talk. I'm still at Kismet. I'm trying to arrange an interview with the kids who were attacked, but everyone's clamming up now that the police are involved."_ There was more talking in the background. _"Sorry about that. Listen, when you talk to Katsuya, can you tell him to call me over here? I think I need permission from an officer, and -"_ someone interrupted her and she trailed off.  
  
"Oh, right! I was supposed to call him," Ulala said, picking up another skirt. "What about chiffon?" She looked it over and wrinkled her nose. "Yellow's not my color, though."  
  
Maya came back on, speaking loudly over the office noise. _"Hey, I have to go, it just got crazy here. Talk to you later, o__ka__y?"_ There was a heavy click followed shortly by empty silence.   
  
Ulala nodded mutely and clicked her phone off. _Guess I'll call Big Suou_, she thought, humming to herself as she dialed his number. His phone rang several times before he answered it.  
  
_"Suou here,"_ he said gruffly, static crackling over the line.  
  
"Big Suou?" Ulala said. "Where are you? Your signal is terrible."  
  
The first part of what he said was garbled, but she managed to make out that he was in a police car heading back to the school. _"- you with Baofu?"_ he asked, the noise suddenly diminishing to a low hum.  
  
"Nuh-uh. He's at the office, and I'm shopping for skirts."   
  
Katsuya paused. _"...Oh. When you do see him, can you have him get in touch with me? I need to talk to him about the missing girl from Sevens."_   
  
Ulala suppressed a sigh. "Sure, sure. That reminds me, Ma-ya said you should call her at Kismet. Something about the police obstructing something-or-other." She trailed off, getting the impression that he wasn't listening anyway.  
  
_"What? Miss Amano said that? I'll give her a call, then. Oh, we're here. I need to go,"_ he said. _"Have a good night."_ Again, a click and then silence.  
  
She blinked. She looked at her phone curiously, as though she weren't sure it was working properly, then shrugged and put it back in her purse. As she did, a timid sales girl approached her to remind her that the store was closing and that she should make her decision soon.  
  
"Oh," said Ulala dully. "Thanks, but I'll just come back later." With that, she collected her things and returned to the street. Outside, she saw that the shop lights were dimming, flickering off; chairs were being stacked on tables, floors swept, window signs turned to 'closed'. The closing-shift employees called goodnights to each other as they locked up, and she felt strangely out of place as she walked past them.  
  
_These people all have a purpose,_ she thought to herself. _They go to work, and when it's over they go home._ She sighed morosely. _What do I do? I never know what to do with myself when no one is holding my hand._  
  
She shook her head, chasing away her negative feelings. _I shouldn't be so self-pitying_, she thought. _I'm close to the office; maybe I'll go help Baofu._ She nodded and smiled, feeling that this would be the right thing to do, and her pace quickened with sudden direction.  
  
As she approached the building, she saw lamplight shining out of their office window. The night had grown decidedly chilly, and she hugged herself, looking forward to getting inside. When she tried the door handle, however, she was surprised to find that it was locked.   
  
_Dammit,_ she thought, irritated. _Bao hasn't given me a copy of the key yet_. She banged on the door with one gloved fist. "Let me in! It's freezing out here!"  
  
There was no response, so Ulala knocked again, harder this time. Someone mumbled close to the door and it slammed open, yellow light spilling onto the sidewalk. She stepped back in surprise. Baofu's angular form stood darkly against the warm interior, braced on the doorframe with one outstretched arm. He squinted at her. "Oh, Ser'zawa... just you," he said, his voice slightly slurred. He was breathing heavily, the silhouette of his shoulders rising and falling.  
  
She followed him into the office, watching as he stumbled against her makeshift desk. He pushed the screen aside roughly. "This place is too small, don't you think?" he asked loudly, of no one in particular.  
  
"Bao?" she said tentatively, looking over his shoulder to his desk. An empty shot glass lay on its side next to an open folder. She looked down to see the corresponding bottle in his hand. Ulala didn't consider herself much of a pessimist, but this one was definitely half empty.  
"Oh," she said, recognition showing in her eyes. I thought he didn't want to drink, she thought bitterly. "Hardly working, I see."  
  
"Definitely too small," he mumbled. "No room for anything. We should," he trailed off, as though he wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. "Move. We should move."  
  
Ulala sighed and shook her head. _He's pretty far gone_, she thought. _I've never seen him this drunk_. "Bao, we just got this place. You said you liked it," she said patiently.   
  
"You're right," he said, his voice suddenly soft and thoughtful. "I do like it." He caressed the desk with clumsy fondness.  
  
She watched him stroke the scratched wooden surface. "C'mon Bao, you really need to sober up," she suggested. "Call it quits for the night, okay?"  
  
His head fell back and he looked up at the textured ceiling, his arms hanging loose at his sides. Ulala hesitated a moment, then walked over to him and gently reached for the bottle he was clutching.  
  
He felt her hand and whirled around, snatching the bottle out of her reach. Warm rusty brown liquid sloshed out of it and fell to the ground with a sickening splat. "Dammit, woman!" he spat, the smell of alcohol now pungent in the small office. "This is none of your business! Why can't you just leave me the hell alone?"   
  
A deathly silence fell over them. Ulala drew back and watched him with wide, hurt eyes. It certainly wasn't the first time a drunken man had thrown abusive words at her; in fact, she was practically an expert at dealing with them. She would slap him, get angry, yell and storm out. She would go home to Maya and eat ice cream and rant about what animals men are. Then, she would get over it, erase his phone number from her book and go back out to start it all over again with some other guy.  
  
At least, that was the plan. That's how it always went before, that's how it went in her head. But right now she couldn't bring herself do anything but stare back at him.  
  
Baofu slumped back to lean on the edge of his desk, his jaw still set in an angry line. He looked intently at the bottle, swished the liquid around, then set it down next to him with a deliberate movement. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes as though he were suddenly very tired.   
  
When he opened them she could see that they were worn and bloodshot. _He looks better without his glasses_, she thought numbly, then started to cry.  
  
He looked up, startled by the soft noise. His eyes opened wide when he saw that she was crying, and before she knew what was happening he was there, next to her and surrounding her. His long arms bent around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. One hand reached up to stroke her hair. "I'm so sorry," he said softly, his voice heavy with regret. "Please don't cry."  
  
Ulala stiffened, her face pressed against the cool fabric of his shirt. _I can feel him everywhere around me,_ she thought in stunned silence. Afraid to breathe, or even to move at all, she just closed her eyes and let him hold her as her tears fell hotly onto her cheeks.   
  
They stood that way for a long time, until her quiet shaking had stopped and Baofu's shirt was blotchy with tears. He drew back, keeping his hands on her arms, and looked into her face. She looked up at him with red and smudgy eyes. Suddenly self conscious, she touched her cheeks lightly with the tips of her fingers. "Oh," she said lamely, noticing for the first time the mascara stains on his shirt, and he almost smiled.   
  
She sniffled and started to say, "I'm going to go find a restroom and salvage what little dignity I have left," but in reality all she got out was "I -" before her mouth was entirely occupied with his. Inside her head, a thousand voices sprang up, yelling questions, doubts, warnings; but on the outside, her eyes just rolled shut and she murmured in muted acquiescence.  
  
He kissed her gingerly at first, his hands still resting lightly on her arms as though he expected her to jump away. When she didn't, and he became convinced she wasn't going to, he slipped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer. She let her hands rest lightly on his chest, which was still damp from her crying.   
  
Where at first the embrace had been almost awkward, Ulala soon felt long-forgotten experience awaken in her partner. He stroked the small of her back as though he had always known exactly how to touch her; he kissed her just as though he had always done so. Something in her fell apart, begged with her to give in to feelings that were far too long in the coming. She broke away for air, taking in ragged breaths as he turned his head to kiss the line of her jaw. She held her eyes tightly closed, focused on holding on, on breathing, on remaining standing.  
  
"Ulala," he murmured, his warm breath dusting her cheek. She was so enthralled by his presence that she could hardly think; he was so close to her, so close... she drew in a deep breath, the smallest smile almost touching her lips before the bittersweet smell of alcohol drifted into her awareness.   
  
Her eyes opened then, as though she were waking from a dream. Her arms had worked their way around his neck, and her head was tipped back so far she found herself staring up at the ceiling. "Wait," she said, the word catching in her throat. Baofu muttered something into her neck and she swallowed and said it again. "Wait, please." She disentangled herself from his arms.  
  
He let his hands fall to his sides and looked at her with an expression that was both confused and concerned. She stood back, feeling as though her heart was torn open and exposed as she stared at him dumbly. His shirt was stained and wrinkled, and without his glasses he looked naked, disarmed. "No," she said, and her voice sounded alien even to her own ears. "I don't want... I mean, not like this."  
  
He blinked. "What? What's wrong?"  
  
She gave a little laugh, still catching her breath. "Look at you. You're drunk. You're stupid. You don't know what you're doing." She shook her head. "I don't want to wake up tomorrow and find out that you're ashamed, or worse, that you don't remember anything at all. I want a better life than that, I..." She paused and looked up at him. "Don't you?"   
  
Baofu didn't say anything, just looked back at her. After a long, heavy silence, he turned his head and closed his eyes. She watched his shoulders fall, and he seemed to diminish in the dim lamplight. "Are you going, then?" he asked dully.  
  
"I -" Ulala choked on the words. _What can I say? What could I possibly say?_ "Do you want me to stay?" she finally asked softly.  
  
He said nothing, only furrowed his brow as the shadow of some bitter sorrow passed over his eyes. She took a deep, ragged breath, then turned and made her way to the door. It had long since closed behind her when Baofu finally looked up.  
  
"I need -" he said, before he realized that it was just an empty room.  
  
* * *  
  
It was late when Maya got home. The apartment was dark, and she smiled wickedly to herself as she closed the door behind her. _Guess Ulala's 'sick' again_, she thought, making a mental note to tease her ruthlessly about it later. _I wonder, will she be married before me?_   
  
She kicked her shoes off to the side and stretched languidly. "Bed bed beautiful bed," she sang lightly to herself as she bent to switch on a table lamp. "Bed beautiful -" the note fell flat in her throat.  
  
Ulala was curled into a ball on the couch, her eyes raw from crying. A carton of ice cream sat in a puddle of condensation on the coffee table, and she was clutching her old hamster doll, which was only brought out in dire emergencies. She didn't even look up at her roommate, just stared straight ahead into empty space.   
  
Maya looked at her best friend in shock. _Baofu_, she thought, her hands curling into two angry fists. "Alright," she said, wrath coloring her voice. "What did he do?"


	8. Chapter 7: The Early Bird and the Second...

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Chapter 7 - The Early Bird and the Second Mouse  
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_Brrring - Brrrring._   
  
It was very early in the morning when Katsuya Suou's old-fashioned alarm clock jumped and jitterbugged across his bedside table. The young officer did an admirable job of ignoring the din for almost five whole minutes - at which point a rumpled and rather surly teenager slammed open the door to his bedroom. A string of half-formed oaths dripped out of the boy's mouth as he stalked over to his brother's bed, ripped all the bedcovers off in one fluid motion, and left just the way he had come, sheets and blankets still in tow. Katsuya groaned and rolled over, one hand feeling around fruitlessly for the coverlet. Eventually his eyes drifted open and he noticed that his bed had been stripped and the alarm clock had danced itself right off the table onto the floor, where it was bouncing around with joyful noise.  
  
He winced and tried desperately to remember how to move. He tugged himself over to the edge of the bed with his fingertips and slapped around until he located the clock. He grabbed it and beat it brutally into the carpet until it shut up, its happy voice strangled in mid-ring. His arm hung limply over the edge of the mattress and he silently congratulated himself on this triumph.  
  
Ten minutes later he had managed to drag himself to the shower, which went a long way towards reintroducing him to the world of the living. His brain slowly rolled into motion as he scrubbed off a surprising amount of grime left over from the previous night. After the shower, a thorough tooth-brushing, and a slightly haphazard shave, he emerged from the bathroom feeling almost human. It was quite an improvement.  
  
_It's going to be a long day_, he thought wearily as he lurched into the living room.  
  
Tatsuya was sprawled on the futon, wrapped up in the stolen blankets and clutching them possessively in his sleep. Katsuya grinned and tiptoed into the kitchen to put on some coffee. He watched his brother sleep as it percolated, comforted by the familiar muted popping sounds of the coffee machine. Tatsuya was roused slightly by the activity and rolled onto his stomach with a belligerent groan.   
  
Katsuya hurried to turn the machine off and poured the pot full of dark brown liquid into his work thermos. He fished a carton of cream out of the fridge and poured a good helping of that - along with an inordinate amount of sugar - into the coffee. He closed the thermos tightly and shook it up, producing by homemade alchemy the sweet elixir of life that he enjoyed every morning. For most people it would have been intolerable, but for Katsuya it was an unquestionable necessity.  
  
He tiptoed past his brother again, to the front door this time, touching the top of of the boy's head lightly as he passed the tangled pile of long limbs and blankets. Tatsuya stirred slightly and yawned, making a little noise as Katsuya pushed open the door. He closed it gently behind him and locked it as quietly as he could. _Poor kid_, he thought with a grin. _Life is so hard!_  
  
He whistled under his breath as he strode down the steps away from their apartment. The street was still almost empty except for a few other suits on their way to work, and the sun was barely peeking above the horizon. The cool city dew hung in the air for lack of anywhere else to go, and it chilled him even through his jacket. Still, it was a lovely morning and he made easy work of the walk to the station.  
  
Katsuya always started his mornings early. For one, he loved the hour or so he had to himself before the other officers and the secretaries started to trickle in. He needed the quiet time to nurse his coffee and prepare himself mentally for the day. Today though, he had another reason to show up early.  
  
"Good morning, Shiro," he said lightly, nodding to the sleepy-looking man behind the counter of the station's garage.  
  
"Mornin' Officer Suou," the man yawned. "Need a car today?" He pulled out a big white binder and flipped it open to a page of little clear envelopes, each containing a tagged key.   
  
Katsuya nodded. "Do you have one available?"  
  
Shiro laughed gruffly. "Hell, it's not even 6 a.m.! You got your pick, whatever one you want." He thought for a moment. "'Course, they're all the same, so it's a dubious opportunity at best, doncha think?"  
  
Katsuya grinned. "Well, you know what they say about the early bird. I want something unmarked."  
  
"Pah," Shiro said, pulling out one of the keys and writing something in his book. "The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. Am I right?" he grinned and handed over the key.   
  
"When you're right, you're right," laughed Katsuya. "No trap today though, just questioning a couple of kids."  
  
Shiro chuckled and shook his head. "Don't underestimate kids; trust me, I got three of my own." He winked. "Good luck getting them worms!"  
  
Katsuya waved over his shoulder and made his way out to the parking lot. The tag on the key pointed him towards car #12, a fairly new plain white Honda. The roads were still quiet; however, as the sun pulled itself reluctantly over the horizon, commuters and students began trickling out of apartment buildings and dorms. A particularly long red light stopped him and he pulled a folded paper out of his breast pocket.   
  
The previous night had been long and tiresome. After the police team had arrived at the school, he'd spent almost forty-five minutes bickering with two very unhelpful administrators over access to the attacked students' personal information. When he presented them with legal papers that granted him the right to see their records, they had agreed grudgingly and then proceeded to stall him out with as much red tape as they could muster. The files in question were looked for, found, promptly lost and then found again, declared to be out-of-date, then checked by at least three different people to ensure that they were in fact all in proper order. When at last they handed the papers over to him, he was feeling like he might have had better luck just knocking on every door in Sumaru City.   
  
Miss Amano, of course, had no more success wrestling with the school than he did, and her press papers weren't enough to grant her any privilege. As a personal favor to her, Katsuya had gone back to the station and spent another forty five minutes negotiating with a very stubborn fax machine. By the time he'd gotten the thing to acknowledge his presence and actually send a copy of the files to her instead of blank pages, the day had long since rolled over and he was aching to go home.  
  
Now, as he waited for a troupe of young schoolgirls to cross the street, he looked over the fruits of his labor. He hadn't had time to analyze the boys' academic records yet; those would have to wait. Right now he was only interested in their names and addresses. He just wanted to ask them a few friendly questions about what had happened the day before.   
  
The first boy's name was Kisho Ito, and according to the school records he was living on the outskirts of the city with his mother. Katsuya made good time getting there, thanks to the early start that allowed him to avoid most of the rush hour traffic. When he arrived, he was a bit surprised by the upscale complex they lived in. He had been half-expecting a run down apartment building, since the mother was single, but instead he found that they shared a large, expensive-looking condo with a pristine white door. He hesitated, checked the paper to confirm the address, and then knocked boldly.  
  
"Just a minute, please!" Someone shouted from inside. He heard a thump, then the sound of something scraping close to the door. A lock clicked and it swung open, revealing a startlingly pretty but much disheveled woman. Her short hair was held out of her face by a green headband, and from the comfortable clothes she was wearing and the coffee cup in her hand it seemed that she had only just gotten up. She smiled. "Can I help you?"  
  
Katsuya blinked. "M-Miss Ito, I presume?" he stuttered out. "I'm Detective Suou, I'm here to talk to your son about the incident at the school last night." He paused, slightly embarrassed by her appearance. "I'm sorry, did I come too early? If I disturbed you, I can come back later."  
  
She laughed easily. "No, it's alright. I normally would be dressed by now, but as you can see…" she stepped aside so that he could see into the condo. Boxes were stacked everywhere, and a fluffy blue loveseat was parked right in front of the door. "…we just moved in, and I was working on getting everything unpacked. Come on in, watch your step there, and don't mind the mess."   
  
He followed her in, somewhat disarmed by her kindness and easygoing nature. He had been expecting at least a little resistance; after all, how many mothers are used to dealing with police officers banging down their doors in the middle of breakfast? He suddenly felt awkward and ashamed for coming at such an early hour, and grateful that Miss Ito was so accommodating. Without really understanding why, he felt immediately endeared and indebted to her, as though she had just done him a great favor.   
  
She invited him to sit at the table and have some coffee while she changed into something more appropriate. When she came back out, wearing a light green t-shirt and jeans, he had already drained half of his cup. She fetched her own and sat down across from him.  
  
"I woke up Kisho," she said, taking a sip. "He'll need a little time to get moving, though. I don't think he slept very well and he's still recovering from yesterday." She tried to smile, but Katsuya could see worry lines in her face. She put her cup down and toyed with the handle.   
  
Katsuya nodded. "Thank you. Maybe you can answer some of my questions while we wait for him." He took a small notebook out of his jacket. "Do you know anything about what happened yesterday?"  
  
She leaned back. "Well, he got into a fight, didn't he? That's what the school nurse told me. He was wrestling with his friend Hideki, and it went too far." She put a finger to her lips and looked up. "I wonder, do you know how Hideki is? He didn't get badly hurt, did he?" A sudden fear crept into her eyes. "Is that why the police are involved?"  
  
"From what I know, the other boy is not seriously injured," Katsuya said reassuringly. "Please don't worry, Miss Ito, your son's not in any trouble. We just want to make sure everything's on the up-and-up, and that he's..." he paused, "...alright."   
  
She smiled in relief. "Ah, that's good to hear. Of course it wouldn't be anything serious. I don't know why I was worried."  
  
They talked lightly for a while before Katsuya could muster the courage to ask where Kisho's father was. She admitted easily that she didn't know. "I was always raising Kisho alone," Miss Ito said, a touch of pride in her voice. "I was very young. The father didn't want anything to do with it, and my family was ashamed and wanted me to give the baby up. I didn't want that, so one day I took all the cash out of my dad's wallet and ran away." She looked into her cup wistfully. "It was hard, and I missed my family, but I got work and managed to scrape by."  
  
He tilted his head, an obvious look of surprise on his face. "This is a very nice place. How..." he paused. "That is, what do you do?"  
  
She smiled wryly. "You're wondering how I could afford this condo on a single mother's salary."  
  
Katsuya blushed and nodded. "The thought had crossed my mind."  
  
"Well, if you must know," she raised her cup to her lips. "I've had a little success as a writer."  
  
"Oh, really?" he smiled. "Would I know any of your work?"  
  
She hesitated. "My first name is Sumi."  
  
Katsuya's eyes widened in sudden recognition. "Sumi Ito," he said slowly. "The very one that writes all those popular mystery novels?"  
  
"That's me," she grinned, somewhat embarrassed. "For the first few years of Kisho's life I worked as a librarian. It didn't pay well, but they were nice enough to let me bring him in with me." She took a sip of her coffee. "I always wanted to be a writer. Every night I worked on short stories and sent them to magazines, but they were always rejected. I'm afraid I wasn't very good at the time."  
  
Katsuya nodded. "But clearly, you improved and became successful."  
  
Miss Ito paused and pursed her lips. "Actually," she leaned over the table conspiratorially. "This may sound crazy, but did you ever play fortune-telling games when you were a kid? Like things that were supposed to tell your future?"  
  
He sat back and looked at her levelly. "I suppose that I have," he said carefully. "Why?"  
  
She flushed. "Well, when I got pregnant with Kisho, I wanted to know what would happen to me, so I played this game with two of my girlfriends. It's embarrassing to talk about," she said with a little laugh. "But a voice spoke in my head and told me not to worry, that I would be successful if I followed my dream."  
  
Katsuya nodded. _Another persona user,_ he thought. _There are more of them than I had imagined._  
  
"So," she continued. "I kept trying to be a writer, and when things got difficult I just thought of the voice and it made me feel better. Maybe it's some kind of meditative thing," she mused, resting her chin on her hand. "But I still play the game sometimes, and I feel like it gives me inner strength. Good fortune, even." She laughed and looked down. "Pretty stupid, huh?"  
  
Katsuya smiled. "No, I don't think so at all."  
  
He was about to say more when a very sleepy young man emerged from the hallway. He was of medium height and handsome, with a lovely face like his mother's, and he was wearing a white t-shirt and loose jeans. His palms were bandaged and Katsuya noticed that he was favoring his right leg. He stopped a few feet from them.  
  
"Mom, who is this guy?" he asked bluntly.  
  
She smiled and stood up. "Kisho, this is Detective Suou. He's here to ask you a few questions about the fight you were in yesterday. Detective Suou, this is Kisho." She collected their coffee cups and put them in the sink. "You two can talk while I run some errands. Be good," she said, pointing a finger at her son. "I'll be back in an hour or so."  
  
Katsuya watched her go, feeling a twinge of regret when she left the room. "Your mother is an amazing woman," he said with a smile.  
  
Kisho crossed his arms. "She tends to have that effect on people," he said warily, then stepped forward and took a seat at the table. "So what are you here for? This doesn't concern the police. Or are you just here to gawk at my mom?"  
  
Katsuya swallowed his grin. _So that's how this is going to be._ "Kisho," He leaned forward, all kindness fled from his expression. "I'm curious about something. Why didn't you tell your mother what really happened?"  
  
The boy looked back at him blankly. "I don't know what you're talking about." His eyes seemed sunken in the morning sunlight that came through two glass patio doors.   
  
"Of course you don't." The young detective leaned back in his chair and took out a cigarette. "Mind if I smoke?" he asked, lighting up.  
  
"Yes."  
  
He exhaled and a cloud of smoke drifted around his head. He tossed the pack and lighter across the table. "Help yourself."  
  
Kisho looked at him warily, then reached over and snatched one out. His hands shook as he lit it, but steadied after he had taken a few long drags. They sat in silence for several minutes, tendrils of blue-gray smoke curling around the kitchen and lingering in the corners of the room.   
  
Katsuya was the first to speak. "Tell me about your injuries."  
  
"They're not so bad. I fell on my hands and knees and they're scraped up." He held up his hands to show the bandages. "We were just wrestling, you know? Mom just wanted me to stay home today so she could keep an eye on me."  
  
"What about your leg? I saw you limping."  
  
The boy bit his lip. "I just hurt my foot a little. It's no big deal. And it's not Hideki's fault either," he added hastily.  
  
Katsuya shook his head. "No one is accusing you or your friend of anything, Kisho." He snubbed his cigarette out into a napkin. "Believe it or not, I want to help. I'm certainly not here to antogonize you."  
  
Kisho sneered. "I don't need your help, okay? I can handle a couple scraped knees."  
  
The detective's lips curled into a smile. "Oh? Did you sleep well last night, Kisho?"  
  
The boy paled. "I... I slept fine. Not that it's any of your business."  
  
"No nightmares, then?"  
  
His eyes hardened. "Look, officer. I didn't do anything wrong, and I don't know what you're getting at. I don't have anything else to say, okay?"  
  
Katsuya gave him a long, intense look, then shrugged and stood up. "If you say so," he said. "Thank you for your help. I'll just show myself out."  
  
He made his way to the door and opened it. A sudden thought made him pause and turn around to look at Kisho, who was still sitting at the table, his chin resting on his hands. Sunlight was coming in through the glass doors full force now, and a square of light illuminated the kitchen wall. It gave Katsuya an idea.  
  
He closed the door and stepped quietly into the path of the sunlight. The shadow of his form appeared darkly on the wall next to the table. Kisho looked up and immediately jumped out of his chair, sending it skittering across the tile floor. He backed away from the table, breathing in short, ragged gasps. "No," he said softly, almost pleadingly.  
  
"What's the matter?" Katsuya's voice startled him and he whirled around, his eyes wide and scared. "It's just a shadow." The boy stared up at the officer for a long time, his chest rising and falling, while he caught his breath and composed himself.   
  
"Jesus," he said, running his hands through his hair. "Jesus."   
  
Katsuya moved out of the sunlight. "I found myself wondering," he said quietly, "what could have scared a sturdy young man like yourself so much that you scrambled to get away on your hands and knees?" His voice softened. "What did you see yesterday, Kisho?"  
  
The boy buried his face in his hands and sank to the ground. "The girl," he said in a small voice. "She followed us there, trapped us on the roof. Me and Hideki, we -" he hesitated. "We knew her, y'know?"   
  
Katsuya fell to one knee and put his hand on the boy's back. "Who was it? How did you know her?"  
  
"I - I don't..." Kisho hugged himself and looked up at the young officer. "Promise you won't tell Hideki I told you?"  
  
"I promise."  
  
He let out a long breath. "Her name is Mai. We met her after school this one day. Me and Hideki were pretty bored and so we thought we'd play with her a little." He bit his lip nervously. "We would, like, follow her home and stuff. Just try to freak her out I guess. But it was always harmless, I swear..." Katsuya looked at him gravely and he averted his eyes. "At least, it started that way. One day we actually went into her house when her parents weren't there. She yelled at us to leave, but..." he trailed off.  
  
Katsuya held his breath. "You molested her," he finally said, hardly able to hide his disgust.  
  
"It wasn't like that!" the boy insisted. "I mean, we both fooled around with her a little, but she could have stopped us. She really could have," he said sullenly.  
  
_I somehow don't think she felt that way in the face of two boys twice her size._ "How many times did this happen?" Katsuya asked quietly.  
  
Kisho said nothing, just looked straight ahead with an intense expression. "I dunno, once a week or so for a couple of months," he finally said. He gave the detective a pleading look. "You have to understand, she was our girl. We even swore not to tell anyone about the stuff she did with us so she wouldn't have to worry about her reputation. We were looking after her!"   
  
Katsuya said nothing, just looked back at him evenly. After a long silence, Kisho spoke again. "She stopped showing at school a couple of weeks ago. We didn't think much of it, but after a few days I went to her house with Hideki. To check on her," he added hastily. "She wasn't there. We talked to her parents, pretending to be classmates, and they said she'd run away." He looked down. "That was the last we heard of her until yesterday."  
  
"Then what happened? What happened yesterday?"  
  
The boy shuddered slightly. "It was just a normal day. We had class and everything and after school we went up to the roof to smoke. The janitor knows we go up there, but he's cool and doesn't get bent about it." He gave a little nervous laugh. "Anyway, we were up there when we heard the door open. We turned around and there she was, but it was like... it was like it wasn't her. She was still in her uniform and she looked darker somehow, like an underexposed picture."  
  
He was quiet for a long time, lost in thought. "Hideki started joking, giving her shit about playing hooky. He walked up to her all easygoing like he was expecting her to just be her normal self. But he hadn't gotten two steps before there was this horrible flash of light." He clenched his eyes shut and quivered with fear. "Oh god, it was so bright and terrible... I was blinded by it, so I fell to my knees and covered up my face. I -" his voice faltered. "I pulled myself away, but behind me I heard Hideki start screaming. He just screamed and screamed and I just -" his voice broke and tears started to stream down his face. "I lost it, you know? I just lost it."  
  
He sniffled and wiped his face with his bandaged hands. "I don't know what happened next. I guess someone heard all his yelling and came up after us. The light just faded abruptly and I was finally able to open my eyes." He fell silent, staring sadly into the empty space before him.  
  
Katsuya swallowed, his throat suddenly dry, and asked, "What did you see?"  
  
Kisho turned and looked into his eyes. His expression was both sad and afraid, fearful and reverent. "Her face," he whispered, as though it was all he needed to say. "I saw her face, twisted in a smile I never saw her make before." He shook his head. "I never saw her smile before."  
  
A heavy silence fell over them. Eventually Kisho spoke. "Officer, can you protect us from her? Or from... whatever it was that we saw yesterday?"   
  
Katsuya stood up and thought for a long time. "Kisho," he said solemnly. "I can no more protect you from that being than I can protect you from yourself." He extended his hand and helped the boy up. "Its greatest strength is your greatest weakness, and only if you can face that weakness can you ever hope to defeat it. I can't help you with that, nor can anyone else. Only you can do what you must now do. Do you understand me?"  
  
The boy looked down and his eyes filled again with tears. "I - I don't think I can. I can't face this."  
  
"You have to," the young detective said. "Otherwise it will torment you for the rest of your life." He reached out and touched Kisho's shoulder. "You made a mistake, and you have to atone for that mistake now. Once you do, the demon you saw will be powerless to hurt you."  
  
There was a pause. "Where do I start?" he asked tentatively.  
  
At that moment the door swung open and Miss Ito came through with an armful of grocery bags. "Kiiisho!" she called out from behind them. "Come help with the groceries!" She dumped them on the table with a little grunt and turned to see the two of them standing in the living room. "Oh!" she said, flushing. "I'm sorry, Officer Suou, I didn't realize you were still here."  
  
Katsuya nodded in her direction and then turned back to Kisho. "I think that might be a good place," he said gently, gesturing over his shoulder to the busy young woman.   
  
The young man looked past him to his mother. A sad smile crept onto his face. "It'll kill her," he said softly. "As far as she knows I've never done a bad thing in my whole life."  
  
"She's stronger than you might think," Katsuya said with a knowing smile. "And for that matter, so are you." He patted the boy's shoulder. "Good luck, Kisho Ito." With that, he turned and made his way to the door.   
  
As he was about to step through, he heard Kisho clear his throat. He turned, but saw that both mother and son were in the kitchen, out of his line of sight. "Mom," he heard the boy say, "I have something I need to talk to you about."  
  
Katsuya smiled to himself and closed the door quietly behind him.  
  
* * *  
  
He was back on the road, on the way to Hideki Ishida's house, when his cell phone started beeping. He slowed and fished it out of his pocket. "Suou here," he said, keeping his eyes on the road.  
  
_"Katsuya?"_ It was Maya. He was so pleased to hear her voice that he didn't notice the worry in it.  
  
He smiled broadly. "Hello, Miss Amano! What can I do for you?"  
  
_"I wanted to thank you for sending the students' files to me last night, but I'm afraid I have some bad news as well."_  
  
"What is it?"  
  
There was a pause. _"I contacted the Ishida family about Hideki. I wanted to talk to them about the incident, maybe arrange an interview..."_   
  
He cut her off, irritated. "Wait, I thought I asked you not to talk to either family until I had a chance to question the boys."  
  
_"I know, and I'm sorry, but Katsuya -"_ he heard for the first time the concern in her voice. _"Hideki Ishida is dead. He killed himself last night."_  
  
The young detective said nothing, only stared at the car in front of him, trying hard not to swerve off the road. _"...I'm sorry,"_ she said again, and the line went silent.  
  
_Oh,_ he thought simply, and as soon as he could he pulled over to stare numbly out at the passing cars.


	9. Chapter 8: Starry, Starry Night

[Note: A*big* thank you to the people who have reviewed this story. I appreciate your comments and suggestions, and it's good to know someone is reading this. ^^ Sorry the updates are coming a little slow – Hopefully the pace will pick up, as I think I might be approaching the second half of the story. Thanks again! –C]

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Chapter 8 - Starry, Starry Night   
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It was that time of day.   
  
Every street was neat and quiet as the sun slowly crept along the sidewalk, spilled into gutters and alleys, and ran across the pavement in golden streaks. The silver city-buildings slept, their many eyes closed and reluctant to open to the calm morning. Two trees waved gently outside of the private mansearching firm on Fifth and Green, dropping red and orange leaves like a silent rainfall to collect in the recessed entryway. Every place was matte muted autumn, and hardly a soul stirred in Sumaru City.  
  
Inside the mansearcher office, Baofu was proving to be no different. He slept with his head on the desk, one long arm in his lap and the other shielding his face from the morning sun. A nearly empty bottle of sweet alcohol had attracted a few flies, and one of them occupied its slightly tipsy self by playing in his nose hair. He sniffed.  
  
Although later the fly in his nose and the one still lingering at the bottle would try to reconstruct the chaotic events of the next few moments, no one was or ever would be sure of exactly what happened. By some accounts, the fly in his nose got a little too daring, and being uninhibited as it was, set about crawling further into that dark chasm than it perhaps should have. A misstep on its part tickled Baofu beyond any tolerance and he sat up, jerked his head back, and after a small pause for suspense, sneezed.   
  
Now, there's no need to worry. The fly survived due to luck or providence, and now resides with his family on an old slice of pizza that fell behind the file cabinet. Sometimes his children gather round and he tells them the story of the Cavern of Evil, always making sure to end with a lecture on the evils of alcohol.  
  
Such a lecture to Baofu would have fallen on deaf ears; not for any philosophical reason, but because of the suddenly more pressing noise of twelve angry elephants stomping and trumpeting across his brain. Twenty-nine gazelles followed quickly behind, who were of course pursued by three cheetahs and a tractor. Two boys carrying pails of sea urchins and sand shovels pattered around and asked each other meaningful yet innocent questions about the nature of life and the universe; a single star flashed bright red and began spelling Pink Lady lyrics in Morse code; four cats and five dogs arranged for a rumble, with knives, in the old quarry at sundown. A handful of pleasant memories picked up and took off for the hills, complaining as they left that they were tired of all the noise the neighbors were making.  
  
Imagine all this crammed into a single, fragile human skull, and you might understand what it meant to be Baofu at this moment. His whole body sagged and he placed his head in his hands as though it could fly off at any moment.  
  
As if by cruel, divine ordination, his phone hiccupped and started to ring.  
  
"Go away," he snarled at it as it bebopped playfully in the cradle. It ignored him, and after three intensely unbearable rings he reached over and snatched up the receiver.  
  
"Go away," he said again, pressing the phone against his face. Someone coughed at the other end.  
  
_"Ah, Baofu?"_ It was Katsuya.   
  
"Suou, if this isn't important, I will hunt you down and eat your children."  
  
There was a long pause and Baofu could almost hear the sound of blinking. _"Er, yes... well, yesterday I got a chance to talk to Kisho Ito, one of the boys from the attack at the school. I think you might find this interesting. Are you looking for a girl named Mai?"_  
  
He sat straight up and immediately regretted it. "Ow. Yes. Did you find something?"  
  
_"She knew both of the boys. More than that, they've been harassing her for months, right up until she ran away."_  
  
Baofu cursed under his breath. _Amazing how it all comes together._ "I see," he said simply.  
  
_"There's more. By Kisho's account, it was Mai who attacked them on top on the school. What he described sounds very much like a persona attack, but I can't see how any single one could be so powerful as to leave the marks we saw on the pavement."_   
  
That was all the hint Baofu needed. "You think it was a fusion."  
  
_"You are looking for a missing boy as well, aren't you?"_  
  
He furrowed his brow and tried to clear his head. "Yeah, Ichirou Otsuki." He chewed his lower lip thoughtfully. "If you're right, all the sooner we need to hunt him down. Did you talk to the second boy who was attacked?"  
  
Katsuya cleared his throat. _"I'm afraid he ended his own life yesterday, in the early morning. I didn't get a chance to speak with him before... well, it was Maya who found out."_ They were both silent for a long moment before he spoke again. _"It may interest you to know that the wound he suffered at the attack was actually self-inflicted. It must have caused the puddles of blood we saw, but I don't get it."_ His voice sounded tired and strained. _"I can't figure it out."_   
  
Baofu shook his head, closed his still reeling mind against a sudden rush of visions and emotions. "He was trying to kill himself," he found himself saying. "That must have been her plan all along. Whatever she did to them, it made this kid fall to his knees and hack at his own arm in a desperate attempt to end his own life."   
  
_"But he was interrupted,"_ Katsuya said, picking up where Baofu left off. _"By the people that found them. And as soon as he was alone..."_ he trailed off.  
  
"He finished the job." Baofu pursed his lips and hissed. "Jesus. It's sick."  
  
_"I would have to agree. Find Ichirou. Figure out if he's connected to Mai, and if so where they're hiding."_  
  
He nodded. "And you?"  
  
_"I'm going to the Velvet Room with Maya this afternoon. We need to figure out which personae these kids are using and how they got their hands on them."_  
  
They talked for a few minutes more, arranging to meet the following morning to compare notes. When at last he was able to hang up, Baofu felt both much better and much worse. The hordes of trumpeting elephants had receded for the moment, but in their place were terrible intuitions looping in constant playback. He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long breath.  
  
_I wonder where Serizawa is,_ he thought, before stiffly getting up to start the day.  
  
* * *  
  
Ulala Serizawa was sitting across from her roommate in a sticky vinyl restaurant booth, and she was picking at an omelet. Maya looked over at the redhead as she shoveled a forkful of chocolate chip pancake into her mouth.   
  
"Are you going to eat that, or just prod it to death?" she finally said.  
  
Ulala gave her a weak smile. "I'm just not too hungry. I'm still full from all that ice cream last night."  
  
"That was sugar and cream. This," Maya pointed to the eggs. "is real food. You need some of it. So eat." She demonstrated with another piece of pancake.  
  
Ulala sighed and nodded, and a waitress in a pink collared uniform came by to fill their coffee cups. Maya dumped two packets of sugar into hers and drained half of it in one swallow. "What's bothering you?" she asked after another long silence.   
  
"I've got a lot on my mind, I guess. Not just about _him,_ but about the kids too." Ulala put her fork down. "I still can't believe that one of them killed himself. It's so unnatural, you know? So sad when it happens to someone that young."  
  
Maya nodded. "It's rough, isn't it? All of us took it a little hard." She took a sip of her coffee. "And Mai, too. I wonder what she's feeling right now. If she's feeling anything."  
  
Ulala screwed up her face. "I just don't know what to think. Did those boys deserve what happened to them? Sure, what they did to her is unforgivable, but one of them is dead now." She looked down. _Really, I know all too well what Mai is feeling. What if my story had ended like that?_  
  
"No one ever deserves to die," Maya said, then added, "Which isn't to say I don't think they had it coming. Part of me is secretly glad she stood up for herself." She took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. "Of course, I don't usually prescribe personae for women's empowerment, you know?"  
  
Ulala couldn't help but smile. "You're right. We can both understand what drove this girl to do what she did, but that doesn't make it any less wrong." Her expression grew serious. "She was playing with something really powerful, wasn't she?"  
  
Maya hesitated, then nodded somberly. "According to Katsuya, yes. We're going to the Velvet Room this afternoon to try to figure out exactly what."  
  
They were silent for a while as they finished off their breakfast. Maya signaled the waitress for the check and Ulala took out a mirror to fiddle with her hair. She looked thoughtfully at her reflection. "Hey, how do you think the Kasu High boy is involved with her? Are they a couple?" She looked over at her roommate and grinned. "That'd be kind of romantic!"  
  
Maya laughed. "I'm not sure romantic is the word you want. Creepy, maybe. Besides," she said teasingly, getting up. "Finding Mai and Ichirou is your and Baofu's problem."  
  
"But Ma-ya," Ulala pouted, hurrying behind her as they picked their way through the other tables. "I don't want to see him today! I'm still mad at him, remember?"  
  
They got out to the street and Maya turned to her. "Well, would you rather come to the Velvet Room with me and Katsuya?"   
  
Ulala stood and thought for a while. "I don't think so," she finally said. "I'm going to go look for Mai on my own." She silenced Maya's objection. "I'll be careful, I promise. I know she's dangerous. But," she looked down. "I think I know what she's going through. I've been wrapped up in revenge too, you know."  
  
Maya looked at her for a long time, then reached out and touched her roommate's shoulder. "Alright, Ulala," she said, and smiled. "I trust you. You know where to find me."  
  
Ulala looked up and smiled back; then the two friends parted and went their separate ways.  
  
* * *  
  
Morning bled into afternoon as Ulala made her way around downtown. She visited three coffee shops, a shady day bar, a mall, and both local extensions of the Peace Diner. She got distracted in Pachinko Silver for a while and made up for it by trekking out west to visit a couple of popular internet cafés. Every place was buzzing with people, kids especially, but they were all packed into impenetrable groups of friends and classmates. She had to admit that she hadn't found a place where you would expect to find two kids who were running from society.  
  
After fighting her way through yet another crowded coffee house, she decided to take a break and turned north to walk along the river. The air grew humid and she stopped under a bright orange tree to watch the leaves fall into the water. Two fat ducks waddled up and looked at her expectantly.   
  
"What do you want?" she asked, irritated. The one on the right turned his head and quacked.  
  
She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I can't believe I'm talking to waterfowl." She sank to the ground and leaned back onto her elbows. "Not that I have better prospects right now," she said dejectedly.   
  
The ducks poked around at her feet for a minute, then caught sight of a family throwing bread some ways down the river. The talkative one quacked and waddled off in their direction, but the other one held back and gave Ulala a friendly nudge before following suit.  
  
She watched them leave and then turned her gaze back to the water. The afternoon sun sparkled on its surface, and morose as she was, she couldn't deny that it was a beautiful day. _I should be at a picnic,_ she thought bitterly. _Not looking for a vengeful high school girl and her delinquent boy toy._ She brushed a lock of hair out of her face. _Who am I kidding? They could be anywhere._  
  
Across the river, a young couple walked hand in hand by the bank. Something in her eyes changed as she watched them. They stopped and turned towards the water, and the girl smiled as the boy tentatively put her arm around her. For a moment there was a kind of balance: the boy, the girl, and the woman silently regarding them. A breeze tousled Ulala's hair and stirred the leaves in the treetops, but she hardly noticed it pass.  
  
A commotion in her purse jerked her out of her reverie. She scrambled to open it and pull out her phone. _Maybe..._ "Hello?" she said hopefully.  
  
_"Miss Serizawa?"_ It was Katsuya.  
  
Her face fell. "Oh. Hi, Big Suou." She settled back on her haunches with a little huff.  
  
_"I'm here at the Velvet Room with Maya, and we discovered something interesting about your runaways."_  
  
"Oh?" She propped the phone between her ear and shoulder as she dug in her purse for a pen. "What is it?"  
  
_"Well, they do know the boy, Ichirou - he's visited several times. But here's the strange thing: according to Igor, he's never summoned a persona for the kid."_   
  
Ulala squinted. "What sense does that make? Why does he go to the Velvet Room at all, then?"  
  
_"He comes to see the Demon Artist. Turns out he's a card fanatic, though no one knows how he figured out about the place. He does use personae - otherwise he couldn't come here - but we find it likely that his awareness of it was actually dormant until recently."_  
  
"Ohh.." she exhaled. "I see. Seems like you've found more questions than answers."  
  
_"Yes, well,"_ he sighed, sounding slightly exasperated. _"Talking to the people in this place is like swimming through warm peanut butter. It's pleasant enough, but you never get very far."_  
  
She laughed. "Okay, so the boy is way into cards. Any news about Mai?" She wrote CARDS in block letters on her hand.  
  
_"Not even a little. They've never heard of her, and Ichirou never mentioned her."_ She heard him sigh. _"I can't prove that they're connected at all. Maybe we're just chasing rainbows here."_  
  
She smiled. "No, Big Suou, I think you're on the right track. Don't get discouraged, okay? I'll keep looking."  
  
_"Thank you, Miss Serizawa. Let me know what you and Baofu find."_  
  
Ulala hesitated. "Um," she said with an awkward laugh. "Yeah. I'll tell him that. Goodbye," she clicked her phone off and stuffed it back into her purse.   
  
She looked at the word on her hand for a while, trying to think of any possible leads that it could give her. Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing whether or not Ichirou shared his hobby. If he had been involved with friends, that would be something, but as far as they could tell he'd been a loner like Mai. Not to mention that the best place for a card fanatic was the Velvet Room, and they obviously couldn't be staying there. She shook her head. _This doesn't help me,_ she thought.  
  
Ulala sighed and turned her attention back to the couple across the river. _What's that like?_ she thought. Oddly enough, she found that she wasn't bitter or angry - just curious, as she watched them turn and head back up the path away from the river. _They seem so easy together. I never feel that comfortable._  
  
A cottony seed landed on her shirt and she brushed it off idly. _Well, except for when I'm home or at Baofu's office. But those aren't really *my* places, are they?_ "No," she said out loud. "I don't have a place, that's why I'm sitting in the dirt beside a river."  
  
Ulala couldn't help but grin at that. _Now I'm talking to myself. I'm dusty and I'm talking to myself._ "Well, where else can I go?" she asked herself. "I don't have a clue where Mai or Ichirou could be, Maya's not home, and I'll be damned if I'm going go back to the office." She climbed to her feet, kicking up a cloud of dust where she had been sitting.  
  
_I wonder if Mai feels that way too_, she thought as she brushed herself off. _We're not that different, are we?_  
  
At that point, she straightened up and the knot in her mind finally came undone. She knew where the girl who didn't belong anywhere would be, and more importantly, she knew where to find the boy that she would undoubtedly be with. She stared down at her hand for a long moment, her eyes tracing the word CARDS.  
  
"Ulala!" she shouted with a mad little laugh. "You're brilliant, you know that?" She collected her purse and took off for the road at a brisk trot. Behind her, a group of chickadees tittered nervously, and two fat ducks waddled back and forth on the dusty riverbank.  
  
* * *  
  
Meanwhile, Katsuya and Maya were still in the dark Velvet Room, and the young detective was rapidly reaching the end of his rope.  
  
"Alright," Katsuya said, gritting his teeth. "You say that you don't know of a persona that fits this description, is that right?"  
  
Igor looked at him with a blank expression. "It's not one that I have ever summoned," he said deliberately, as if he were talking to a small child.   
  
Katsuya blinked, then pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, you never summoned it. We got that." He looked pleadingly at Maya, who was sitting at the piano with Nameless. She grinned and gave him a look that said, _Don't look at me, this is your job isn't it?_   
  
He glowered at her and turned back to Igor. "But if you didn't summon it, how did he get it? And which one is it?"  
  
The old man took a deep breath and rolled his eyes back. "Everything has a persona. Sometimes you choose it, and sometimes it chooses you. Sometimes it comes from the outside, and sometimes it comes from the inside. Get it? There are many ways someone can grow into a persona. This room is just one means to that end." He sat back, apparently satisfied with this explanation. "As for which one the boy is using, who can say? Each thing can _be_ a persona just as much as it can _have_ a persona. It's all relative, you know."  
  
There was a brief pause. "So," Katsuya said slowly. "He could have gotten it anywhere, and it could be anything."  
  
Igor nodded vigorously. "You got it!" he exclaimed in a proud voice. He looked as though he might burst into applause.  
  
Katsuya looked at him dumbly for several minutes, then shook his head and stalked off. "I give up," he said over his shoulder to Maya, who was still practicing duets with the blindfolded piano man. She gave him a concerned look as he passed.  
  
Nameless carried the song to a close and looked over at her. "He'll be alright," he said warmly. "Our world is a little hard on his mind, and he isn't used to thinking with anything else."  
  
"Hmm? Oh, I suppose you're right. I don't understand it, though," she said, turning to face him. "I always feel so comfortable here."  
  
The handsome musician smiled. "We are all destined to grow into more than we are. In more ways than one, you're a very special young lady." He nodded to Katsuya, who was standing alone. "And he's a very special man, too, in a different way. You see, you enhance each other."   
  
Maya took her hands off the keys and smiled up at him. "Thanks, Dad," she teased, and he chuckled softly. "But I don't worry too much about Katsuya. I feel like he can always take care of himself."   
  
"Of course he can," he said, his fingers moving to start another song. It was a solo this time, and to Maya the sound was both haunting and oddly familiar. "But that's not the issue in question here," he added.  
  
She nodded and sat in silence for a while, her thoughts straying into the dark and dreamlike melody. Over the piano, she could see Katsuya leaning against the wall by the door. His arms were crossed and his head was turned half to the side, so that the line of his jaw stood out even in the dim light. Maybe it was the music, or the drowsy atmosphere of the Velvet Room, but in that moment he seemed to her like a statue of perfect stillness and beauty. She shook her head slowly and tried to stop herself from staring, but something in her eyes wouldn't let him go.  
  
Somewhere inside the song, Belladonna began to sing. Her voice fell into a descant like rain that seems to come from nowhere, and it hovered above the melody in wordless grace. Maya held her breath as the shapeless music descended into a language she could understand.   
  
_You know the sun will rise today,  
The same as it has ever been.  
No other way,  
Not today,  
That it could ever be._  
  
She felt herself rise from the piano bench. Nameless smiled and nodded goodbye to her, and she walked around to where Katsuya was standing. She touched his shoulder lightly, startling him away from his thoughts.   
  
_You know the rain will fall today,  
The rain that washed away your sin.  
The lyre won't play,  
Not today,  
And you can't come to me._  
  
"I want to go now," she said voicelessly, mouthing the words to him. He gave her an odd look, then nodded and pushed himself away from the wall. Together they opened the door and made their way through gossamer curtains back to reality. Behind them the sound of Belladonna's song grew faint and thin in the air, but did not fade from their awareness until the last word had reached them.   
  
_You know the world will end today,  
The sickness biting from within.  
I cannot stay,  
Not today,  
But tomorrow we shall see.___


	10. Chapter 9: All Things in Time

[Note: I had some trouble getting this one formatted right. Hope it's okay now. Sorry about the trouble. J]

-----------

Chapter 9 - All Things in Time

_No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change:  
Thy pyramids built up with newer might  
To me are nothing novel, nothing strange;  
They are but dressings of a former sigh__t._

_Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire  
What thou hast foist upon us that is old,  
And rather make them born to our desire  
Than think that we before have heard them told__._

_Thy registers and thee I both defy,  
Not wondering at the present nor the past,  
For thy records and what we see doth lie,  
Made more or less by thy continual haste.  
This I do vow and this shall ever be;  
I will be true despite thy scythe and thee.___

_-Shakespeare, Sonnet 123  
_-----------

Two bells rang and clamored against each other when Ulala shoved open the heavy door to the Time Castle. It closed quietly behind her as she stepped forward into the gloomy store. She pushed her sunglasses up into her hair and looked around. 

The place was pretty much just as she remembered it. The main part of the shop was dimly lit and smelled faintly of damp wood and mothballs. Clocks and clock faces decorated every surface and occupied two long glass cases that ran lengthwise through the store. The carpet was a plush red and matching curtains hung on the back wall, obscuring deep shadows that suggested the presence of a door to some hidden area. She sniffed and wrinkled her nose, waving at the dank air in front of her face. 

It was empty save for one elderly lady by a selection of antique German cuckoo clocks, and a couple of younger people leaning over a glass counter towards the back. And of course, there was the man himself, complete with pristine white hair and a haughty expression as he stood stolidly on his raised platform. He looked up at the sound of the bells and squinted at Ulala, reaching up to adjust his clock-face monocle with two delicate fingers.

She strode towards him. "I always wondered… What exactly are you the count of, anyway?" she asked with a smirk. "Creepy eyepieces?" The two young people looked up in surprise and shuffled off to the side, clearly bothered by her disturbance of the hushed atmosphere. 

The Count regarded her coolly. "Ulala Serizawa," he said in a droll voice. "A pleasure, as always."

She gave him a sardonic smile. "You just couldn't stay out of trouble, could you?"

"Why, I don't know what you're talking about," he said, his thin eyebrows arching dramatically. "You must think I'm involved in something... shady." The corners of his lips curled up. "I'm wounded, my dear, really I am."

Ulala chuckled under her breath and shook her head. "You're a piece of work," she said, running her hand along the edge of a glass display case. "Still selling cards on the side, I take it?"

"Of course." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "Would you like to purchase one? I can offer you a very special price. To honor our _very special relationship." A sadistic grin crawled across his face. "After all, you and your little friends were always my best customers."_

Ulala turned to face him. "Yeah, you saw us a lot, didn't you?" She stepped forward and crossed her arms. "I bet you think you know everything there is to know about me."

He chuckled. "It can't possibly be that much, my dear."

"But the thing is," she said, ignoring him. "You only saw me when I was here with them." She cracked her knuckles. "I can be a totally different person when my friends aren't around to keep me in check."

He looked at her impassively and she continued. "I'm insecure, petty, superficial," she listed, counting off on her fingers. "Oh, jealous, did I leave that one out? But there's one more, one that I think you might be forgetting."

The Count raised his eyebrows. "And what might that be?"

She smirked. "I'm so very impatient," she said, and he noticed for the first time that her knuckles were taped. There was a sudden blur of motion and before he could react, her fist connected with his face and the world exploded in a flash of light and pain. His head jerked to the side and he stumbled backward, cursing violently as he cradled his cheek in his hand. He didn't even have time to straighten up before she grabbed him roughly by the lapels and slammed him up against the wall.

He hung from his shoulders limply, a crooked smile still plastered on his face. "How charming," he rasped, a thin line of blood trickling out of his nose. "I think violence is so becoming of a lady, don't you?" His right eye was already swollen and red, and his hair was mussed and sticking to his face. His clock-face monocle, now cracked, dangled from its chain around his neck. For Ulala, it was the most satisfying thing she had seen all day. 

"Can we cut the crap already?" she growled. He started to laugh and she slammed him into the wall again. "Shut up and listen. Two boys were attacked on top of Seven Sisters High." 

He snorted. "Not very original, is it?"

"Shut your mouth before I shut it for you," she spat. "One of them is dead. And isn't it just the biggest coincidence that one of the suspected attackers is a card freak? Why, imagine my surprise to think that you might have had a hand in all of this." She nodded to the red curtains concealing the back room. "What do you have in there, Clockula? A breakfast nook?"

"Go see for yourself," he shrugged. "I have nothing to hide from the likes of you." 

She gave him one last shove and released him, letting him crumple to the floor. He wiped the blood away from his nose as he watched her push open the curtain. Behind it there was a shallow recess and a nondescript gray door obscured by shadows. She hesitated, then reached into the darkness to turn the handle.

"Don't make trouble," she said coldly, before disappearing from sight.

He chuckled as he pulled himself to his feet. "Don't say I didn't warn you," he said, taking out a handkerchief to clean his monocle carefully. When he held up it to his face, it was whole again. "Oh wait, I didn't, did I?" His face twisted into a smile and he smoothed down his hair. 

"How silly of me." 

*  *  *

_Where *is* he?_

Tatsuya chewed on his lower lip and shaded his eyes against the hot afternoon sun as he scanned the intersection for any sign of his older brother. He slumped against a nearby wall and tugged at the bottom of his t-shirt.

_I've been waiting here for forty-five minutes, he thought bitterly. _Even school is better than this.__

He slid to a sitting position and toyed with the idea of exploring the mysterious shop across the street; the one that always had dark curtains over the window and a sign that proclaimed "FUN INSIDE FOR GENTLEMEN WITH TASTE". He looked down at his rumpled clothes and tried to figure out if he fit the bill. He was still deliberating when the shadow of two nicely shaped legs passed over him. _Hel_-lo_, he thought._

"Hello," he said, and looked up, squinting to see their owner. She turned her head and put her hands on her hips.

"Katsuya," she called. "I found your brother." She turned back to face Tatsuya and smiled. "Wanna get up out of the dirt? Sorry we're late."

He stared up at her. She gave him a quizzical look and then shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said, laughing lightly. "I'm Maya, the reporter from the school, remember? I'm working with your older brother." She helped him up and he was brushing himself off when Katsuya got across the street to join them. 

"I'm sorry I'm late," he said, somewhat breathlessly. His face was flushed. "We got a little bit lost."

Tatsuya shrugged. "Whatever, I was just bored." He stretched languidly. "Are we gonna go eat or what? I'm starved."

Maya nodded. "Yeah, we're not far from Thursday's. It's a good place." She turned to Katsuya. "Want to pick up Baofu on the way?"

The young detective shook his head. "No, he said he'd meet us there." He put his hand on Tatsuya's back as they crossed the street. "Last I talked to him he'd been all over the city, but no luck. First time I can remember that Baofu's been stumped by something."

"Humph," Maya said. "Serves him right." The two men gave her a curious look, but she didn't say anything else. 

"Um," said Tatsuya after a few minutes of walking in silence. "So how do you two know each other?" He stuffed his hands into his pockets and gave her a friendly look. "Are you dating or something?"

Katsuya sputtered and coughed, and Maya smiled awkwardly. "Little brother," he said with a nervous laugh. "Miss Amano is just a friend of mine. I've worked with her on cases before." He flushed despite himself. "Her assistance has always been most valuable to me."

Tatsuya looked from one to the other and then shot his brother a skeptical look. "Oh," he said slowly. "Right." _Man_, he thought. _He's got it bad. I wonder if she knows? He started to whistle a pop song under his breath._

"Oh good," said Maya, perhaps a little too shrilly, as they came up on the restaurant. "Here we are!" A fancy sign reading 'Thursday's' in ye olde English calligraphy hung from a pole over the door, tavern style. Katsuya held the door open and they filed into the cool entryway. They were all glad to be out of the sun as they waited for the hostess to find them a table.

The after-work crowd had already started clogging up the place, so they ended up settling for a claustrophobic U-booth near the bar. They had just ordered their drinks when Baofu came in and stalked over to them, the puffy little raincloud over his head so pronounced it was almost tangible. His joints complained loudly as he slid onto the crowded bench.

"Good evening, Baofu," Katsuya said. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to keep his leg as far from Maya's as possible, which wasn't very given the close quarters. Tatsuya, who was fighting not to fall off the end, muttered something profane and gave him a sharp elbow in the ribs. "Ow! Er... no luck today, I take it?"

Baofu just grunted and took out a cigarette. Maya leaned over to Katsuya and said under her breath, "He's hung over. Spent the whole night blind in a bottle." 

The detective sat back and nodded sagely. Baofu gave them both a venomous look and took a long drag from his cigarette. "It's not that bad," he said flatly. "But I didn't get anywhere today. It's like these kids don't even exist." He rubbed his forehead with two long fingers. 

Tatsuya watched the older man intently. He seemed so worn out and tired. His brother had called Baofu a genius, the best investigator he'd ever known; but from here, he really didn't seem so big at all. _Is this what it means to be good at what you do? he wondered to himself. __Does it just make it that much harder when you fail?_

Maya leaned forward to talk to Baofu. "Have you seen Ulala yet? Have you talked to her?" It was the crown prince of loaded questions.

He just stared into his coffee. "No," he finally said. "She hasn't been around." 

"Really?" said Katsuya. "But she said on the phone earlier that she was with –" 

He was interrupted by another elbow from Tatsuya. "Big brother," he whispered. "Let's go get an appetizer or something." The detective turned to see Maya glaring at Baofu with a look that would have had Moses himself asking "What? What'd I do?"

"Oh." He nodded in agreement. "You may be right." They slipped quietly off the bench and walked towards the bar. "We'll be back," he said over his shoulder, but neither of them was listening.

Maya fiddled with the little umbrella in her drink for almost a whole minute before turning to Baofu with an angry expression on her face. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she said bluntly.

He winced. "I'm trying to drink some coffee. I have a headache and the name of the cure is not Maya Amano."

"I don't mean right now. You know damn well what I mean." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I stayed up half the night taking care of Ulala."

"I don't see how that's my problem."

"It is your problem!" A few people at nearby tables turned to look at them, and she lowered her voice. "It is your problem," she repeated, "because it was you she couldn't stop crying about."

He looked up at her, his eyes dark and intense behind his glasses. She took a breath and went on. "She's out there alone today because she thinks you're like every other guy in her book. I'm worried about her. What if she gets into trouble?" Maya turned her head and closed her eyes. "I used to think you'd take good care of her."

"Serizawa can take care of herself," he said harshly. "Otherwise I would have never let her be my partner." 

"Baofu," Maya leaned forward, her voice now soft. "I'll drop the subject right now and never bother you about it again, if you can look into my eyes and tell me that she's really just your partner."

He remained silent, his knuckles white as he gripped his coffee cup. After several minutes had passed, she caught sight of the Suou brothers returning with baskets of onion rings and mozzarella sticks. She reached over to touch Baofu's arm. "Don't play with her," she said. "If you can't work up the courage to be a real man for her, make room for someone else who can." 

Her last words bit into him and left a heavy, empty feeling in his stomach. He hardly noticed the Suous' return, or the happy feast of greasy fried food that followed. The headache that had plagued him all day began to subside, and he felt like he could think again, though he wasn't sure if it was the coffee or Maya's sermon or perhaps both that cleared his head. Occasionally, someone would ask him a question or offer him food, but he just shook his head and they left him alone.

The meal itself passed uneventfully, with very little interaction between the four people who chewed quietly on their food. The waitress passed by occasionally to fill Baofu's coffee cup and once it seemed they were done eating, she place the check tactfully in the center of the table. After a few minutes of scribbling on a napkin they figured out what everyone owed and collected cash from each other. The brothers bickered over who was going to pay for Tatsuya, Maya excused herself to the ladies' room, and Baofu drained the last of his fifth cup of coffee. Eventually Katsuya won out and Maya came back; then they all got up, collected their things, and filed out of the restaurant. 

Baofu walked in front, his jacket slung over one shoulder and the intense look in his eyes obscured behind his dark glasses. His mind felt strangely empty; normally the alcohol blocked out the inner voice and its visions, but he wasn't used to being left alone even after he'd sobered up. All day he'd felt like he was walking around with blinders on. He fiercely bit down on the end of his cigarette. _Persona._ They're never there when you need them_, he thought bitterly. __In the end, you just have to rely on yourself. _

They fought their way through a little crowd at the door and got out to the busy street. The setting sun glinted off of building windows and passing cars, causing them all to squint and shield their eyes. Katsuya put a protective hand on his little brother's shoulder.

"Well, it's been a long week, and Tatsuya and I are going to reward ourselves with a movie," he said, turning to Maya and Baofu. "You're both welcome to come, of course."

Maya clapped her hands. "Oh, what movie? I really want to see something with action. And romance!"

Katsuya grinned. "Well, Tacchan here does have a soft spot for those sappy samurai movies," he said. His little brother gave him a mean look and punched him in the shoulder. Maya watched as they wrestled playfully. _I never knew *that* little detail about him_, she thought, an amused expression on her face. 

The three of them crowded together, talking and laughing, while Baofu stood off to the side and finished up his cigarette. They finally agreed on a place to go, and Katsuya looked over his shoulder. "Are you going to come, too?" he asked. 

Baofu looked back at the happy group impassively. _Go see a samurai flick with the three stooges? I'll pass. "No," he said. "I'm tired. I think I'm just going to go crash." _

They nodded and waved, turning away to cross the street. He took two steps in the other direction before he staggered against the wall, the world suddenly wavering before his eyes.

_No, he thought, struggling to clear his head, to stand up straight, but the vision hit him before he could brace himself against it. He closed his eyes and clutched at his stomach, a familiar nauseous feeling creeping over him. A wave of color broke across his mind and disintegrated, turning into an image that he could see clearly even with his eyes closed against it._

_NO, he thought again, digging his palm into the rough brick wall. At first all he could see was darkness, but it fell aside like a heavy curtain, and he found himself staring into Ulala's eyes._

"Serizawa?" he whispered, forgetting for the moment to struggle against the dream. She seemed to be talking; her lips were moving, but he couldn't hear her voice. Her eyes seemed to be looking through him, as though she were focused on something he couldn't see. He started to reach out to her. He wanted her to see that he was there.

He froze. Behind her he saw another shape emerge from the shadows. He felt a sudden danger, and animal panic washed through him. "No!" he cried out, and he tried to leap forward, but he found that his feet were rooted to the ground. She kept talking, apparently unaware of the thing that stalked behind her. There was a quick, controlled movement and a glint of light, and he could only watch as her eyes widened in surprise.

She cried out noiselessly and fell to her knees. On her right shoulder there was a slowly widening bloodstain, and over her stood a young man, the dripping knife still in his hand. He tilted his head and started to laugh, and then the dark curtains started to close on the edges of the vision. Baofu roared and struggled frantically, but he couldn't keep them open. He fell away from the dream, and when he opened his eyes all he could see was the mundane city street again.

"Shit!" he growled. He stood up shakily, then turned and took off full speed after the others. He caught up with them at a stoplight two blocks away. "Suou!" he yelled, as he ran towards them.

Katsuya turned. "Baofu!" he said, raising his hand to wave. "Decide to come after all?"

Baofu reached them and stood, panting, his hands on his knees. "Suou," he said, between gasps. "Serizawa. Is in trouble. I don't know where. Need help." 

Maya stepped forward. "Ulala?" she said, her voice suddenly frantic. "How do you know? Where is she?" 

"I don't know." Baofu shook his head. "I can't explain myself right now. I just know she needs help. Soon."

Katsuya looked over at Tatsuya. "Little brother," he said apologetically. "I need to go with him." He turned to Maya. "Will you take care of Tatsuya for me?"

Her eyes widened. _He's not serious, is he? _she thought. "Katsuya," she pleaded softly.

He reached out to touch her arm. "Maya," he said. "I can't leave him here. We'll take care of Ulala, but if I'm going to do that, I need to know that he's safe." He held her eyes. "Please, do this for me."

She swallowed and bowed her head. "Call me as soon as you know," she said meekly.

He smiled thankfully and gave her a quick nod. He let go of her arm and turned to Baofu. "Let's go," he said, and the two men were off without another word. 

Tatsuya watched them go and then turned to Maya. "What," he said slowly, "was that all about?"

She shook her head and laughed nervously. The light changed and they crossed the street together. The bright theater sign came into view.

"Really," she finally said. "It's a very long story."


	11. Chapter 10: Lucky Girl, Lucky Lady

---------  
Chapter 10 - Lucky Girl, Lucky Lady  
  
_Pale, beyond porch and portal,  
Crowned with calm leaves, she stands  
Who gathers all things mortal  
With cold immortal hands;  
Her languid lips are sweeter  
Than love's who fears to greet her  
To men that mix and meet her  
From many times and lands.  
  
- Algernon Charles Swinburne, The __Garden__ of __Proserpine_  
---------  
  
The back room of the Time Castle was larger than Ulala had expected. A narrow hallway led into a round area with dark curtains on the walls and a single lamp hung from the ceiling. It took her eyes a minute to adjust to the low light as she walked forward warily. The space was clean and neatly kept, containing two reddish-brown chairs on the right side and a long white table on the left. Her footfalls became dampened suddenly, and when she looked down she saw that she was standing on a beautifully intricate oriental rug.  
  
"It's priceless," a female voice said from somewhere ahead of her. She looked up sharply, squinting to see into the darkness. There was a soft creaking noise, and a young woman stepped forward to the edge of the light. "Nice, isn't it?"  
  
Ulala took a step forward. "Are you Mai Ogawa?" she asked, deciding that the direct approach was probably the best one.  
  
The girl gave a funny laugh and nodded. "Yeah, that's me. Who are you?"  
  
"I'm a friend of the Count's," Ulala said with a smile.  
  
"Like hell you are," Mai said. "The Count doesn't have friends."   
  
_Well, at least she's not deluding herself. Maybe she thinks that she's the one using him. _"I'm glad you realize that."  
  
They stood there in silence for a long moment, sizing each other up. _She looks older than I expected,_ thought Ulala. _And more self-assured._  
  
"Mai," she finally said. Her voice sounded thin, like it was losing itself in all the empty space of the room. She hesitated, then squared her shoulders and stood as straight as she could. "My name is Ulala Serizawa. I'm a private mansearcher, and I was hired by your family to find you. They're very worried, and they would like you to contact them as soon as possible." _There it is_, she thought, holding her breath. _Now we'll see how this is going to be_.   
  
* * *  
  
"Well, can you get through?"  
  
Katsuya closed his cell phone and shook his head. "Her phone must be off. I'm not getting anything."  
  
Baofu cursed and smacked his hand against a light post. "I can't believe that woman! What did she think she was doing, anyway?" His body sagged and he rubbed his temples, hiding the frustrated expression on his face. Katsuya watched him patiently while he tried to straighten out his thoughts.  
  
_Where the hell is she?_ Maya had said she went after Mai and Ichirou on her own. _Is it possible that she actually found them?_ If that were the case, it was as good as over. He'd been searching fruitlessly for those two all day, and if he couldn't find them then, he sure as hell couldn't find them now. He squeezed his eyes shut. _I'm not giving up. There has to be a way._  
  
"There is," he said aloud. He looked over at Katsuya with sudden earnestness. "There is a way."  
  
The young detective, who had been leaning against a wall, looked back at him evenly. "To find her?" Baofu nodded and he stood up, brushing off his shirt. "Alright, so what's your idea?"  
  
"I have to talk to Prometheus," he said somberly. "I have to go back into the dream."  
  
* * *  
  
The girl nodded and turned to face the back wall. She disappeared for a moment and returned pulling an old leather work stool, which she wheeled over to the edge of the rug. The fluffy cushion wheezed as she sat down and crossed her legs. Now that she was in the full light, Ulala could see that she was really quite attractive. She was the type that if you only looked at her once, she was plain at best, but if you looked again, you'd notice something about her hair or the way she moved her hands; she had a sleepy sensuality that didn't make itself known, but was potent nonetheless.  
  
She was wearing something black and matte, something that bled into the darkness behind her so that Ulala had to look at her exposed skin to define the shape of the garment. Her shoulders were bare except for two thin straps and her arms also so; her legs were naked to the knees, where the darkness hung in a way that suggested a loose skirt. She produced a cigarette from somewhere and let it sit loosely between her lips.  
  
Almost by habit, Ulala turned to dig in the purse that hung at her hip. She found her lighter and took a step forward, flicking it on and holding it out at full arms' length. Mai arched her eyebrows and shrugged when she realized Ulala wasn't going to come any closer. She leaned forward from the waist until her cigarette connected with the flame, the ensuing flicker briefly illuminating her face as she inhaled. She sat back, twin ribbons of smoke curling around her head and bits of glowing paper still hanging in the air.  
  
Ulala waited patiently while the girl burned through almost half of her cigarette, occasionally flicking ashes onto the Count's priceless rug. When she finally did talk, it seemed like it was only because she was getting bored of the silence. "I never used to smoke," she said, looking thoughtfully at the business end of the cigarette. "Why do you carry a lighter? You don't seem like the type."  
  
"I'm not, but I have friends that are."  
  
"You have friends?" Mai said, in a disinterested voice. "You don't seem like the type."   
  
Ulala bit her tongue. _Be cool,_ she coached herself. _Be professional._ "What makes you say that?" she said diplomatically. "You only just met me."  
  
The girl shrugged and stood up from her seat. She paced restlessly to the side, a thin trail of smoke following behind her. "I may be young," she said over her shoulder. "But I'm not stupid. You didn't come here looking for just me; why would you have any reason to? I don't care about cards or any of this old-timer crap." She finished her cigarette and flicked it away. "So you must know about Ichirou."  
  
She turned and smiled coldly at Ulala. "I bet you think you know everything there is to know about me. Maybe you even feel like you can relate to me. You figured I'd be hanging out here, clinging to my man, because that's what you would do." She caught a laugh in her throat. "The disgusting part is that you were right. Maybe we aren't so different. I certainly don't have any friends. So why should you?"  
  
Ulala looked at her for a long time, her expression still calm and unreadable. "I do have friends," she said quietly. "I have friends who love me and take care of me, even when I'm too wrapped up in myself to love and take care of them."  
  
Mai looked around the room pointedly. "Funny," she said. "I don't see anybody else here." Her expression grew serious and intense. "You know I'm dangerous, and yet you're here alone with me in a dark room. Yeah, really great friends you have."  
  
Ulala clenched her hands into fists, running the tips of her fingers along the palm edge of the taping. "I chose to come alone," she said, slowly and deliberately. "I thought I could work better that way, and they respected my judgment." _Well, Maya did, anyway, she thought. I'm sure the others would have agreed to it, too. Eventually._ She relaxed her posture and crossed her arms over her chest. "They taught me what real friends are like. Real friends have high expectations _of_ you, without expecting anything _from_ you."  
  
"Oh. Right," the girl said sarcastically. Her dark eyes glinted behind a harsh expression. She crossed back to her stool and sat down heavily. "I'm glad for you, really I am. But we can't all be so lucky with our friends." Her lips curled into a sardonic smile and she gestured to the room around her. "I make do with what I have."  
  
_This isn't going well_, thought Ulala, as she tried to contain her frustration. _She's too bitter, too defensive._ She tried to remember what Big Suou had told her once about the interrogation process. _"One of the best ways to get through to someone who is resisting,"_ he had said, _"is to convince them that you've given up, that you don't care about them anymore. Try and walk away, and nine times out of ten they won't let you."_  
  
It hadn't made sense to her at the time, but she had since seem him make it work against countless people, demon and human, young and old, good and evil. Katsuya may have had his share of issues, but she couldn't deny that he knew how to do his job. _Well,_ she thought. _Might as well give it a try._   
  
* * *  
  
Baofu sat down cross-legged on the dusty pavement. Katsuya watched him from a few feet away, his expression mildly confused. "I'm not sure I understand," he said. "You mean to say you can access these... premonitions... anytime you want to?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
He rubbed his forehead. _Maybe I should call the police_, he thought. _We're wasting valuable time here._ "And how exactly do you go about doing something like that?"  
  
"I don't know," the older man said, closing his eyes. "I've never done it before."  
  
_Just great,_ thought Katsuya, slumping against the wall again. He pursed his lips, turning his head to scan the dark street. A few people ducked in and out of businesses or walked on their way to somewhere else, but no one seemed to take notice of the young detective and his friend. _But there's nothing else to be done, is there?_ A skeptical frown settled on his face and he resigned himself to waiting.   
  
* * *  
  
There was a long moment of silence in the wake of Mai's admonition. Ulala stood where she was, ignoring the unspoken dismissal. "Oh well," she said lightly, and shrugged. "I guess there is a difference between us, then. Not much I can do about that." She turned away, brushing a piece of hair out of her eyes. _Play it cool, be nonchalant,_ she thought, and patted herself on the back for what she considered to a stellar performance thus far.   
  
Mai shot her an impatient look. "What?" she asked, scowling.   
  
"Nah," said Ulala. "It's nothing." She straightened her clothes and started to make her way back out to the store. "If you don't want to contact your parents, I can't make you. I'll tell them that I found you here and collect my fee. And since you were so charming, I'll wait until Monday to tell the police about your little hideout." She got to the edge of the circle of light and turned to face the girl. "Do what you want, but I don't recommend sticking around here for very much longer," she said coolly. "It was nice meeting you."  
  
"Wait!" Mai jumped up. "Wait, tell me what you were going to say already."   
  
Ulala paused and gave her a small smile. _It worked,_ she thought gleefully. _Katsuya, you are a genius_. "Mai," she said. "You just sit around, waiting for luck to fall into your lap, don't you?" She shook her head gently. "It doesn't work like that. The difference between you and me isn't good luck or bad luck. It's that I make my own luck, and you just whine about your lack of it."   
  
Mai said nothing, just screwed up her face into a pout and looked to the side. Ulala took a breath and continued. "One of the boys you attacked is dead, did you know that? He killed himself." She shook her head. "I know what they did to you was disgusting. They're sleazeballs and I can think of some very creative punishments that would be perfectly fitting for them. But none of them involve the pain you inflicted on them. No one deserves that."  
  
The girl stepped back, clearly surprised by the reproach. For a second she looked infuriated, as though she were ready to fly at Ulala and start ripping out her hair, but it just as quickly gave way to a much sadder, worn expression. Her body seemed to deflate, and she shrank back to sit gingerly on her stool. For the first time Ulala felt that she might be seeing the real Mai; the person behind the persona, who looked so much smaller and more fragile than she first seemed.  
  
"I didn't mean to hurt them that bad," she said softly. "I read about the suicide in the paper, and -" she choked back tears. "I never wanted that. It wasn't supposed to be like that, but Ichirou joined with me somehow, and... we just annihilated them. It felt so empowering at the time, I was so happy to see them suffer." Her face twisted into a grimace. "But I can't stop thinking about how empty they looked. Like we were leaving two husks of people there on the roof."  
  
They both fell silent for a long moment. "Um," the girl said at last. "Will you really... are the police really looking for me too?" Her eyes shone with sadness and fear. "Do you think that I would be okay at home?"  
  
Ulala tilted her head, and smiled warmly.   
  
* * *  
  
Baofu took a deep breath and tried to empty his mind. _Prometheus,_ he whispered to himself. _Persona, persona, persona_... over and over again, the familiar mantra ran through his head. The wind picked up and stirred his hair.  
  
For a long time he felt nothing, or rather, he felt enough to assure him that he was still firmly rooted in reality. He was aware of the rough pavement, the sound of Katsuya's pacing, the dusty smell in the air. He sighed; although it was comforting, none of it emulated the dizzying void that always preceded his visions.  
  
_Damn it_, he thought bitterly. _You plague my life, you disrupt my sleep, I can never escape you... and then the one time I need you, you're nowhere to be found._ He clenched his teeth fiercely. _Is this all some kind of joke to you?_  
  
Anger and frustration swelled in his heart, and just as he was about to jump up and punch the wall, he felt himself paralyzed. A familiar voice danced through his mind. _How interesting_, it said. _I never thought I'd see this day_.  
  
Baofu reflexively struggled against the voice, then forced himself to relax. _I need your help._  
  
Soft laughter echoed in his skull. _You need my help? Tell me. Why do you need my help?_  
  
_I can't see her._ He found it hard to think the right words, like his mind was slowly unraveling. _I need to know where she is. Please, show me where she is._  
  
There was a long silence, and then Baofu felt as though the ground dropped out from under him. For the first time in his life, he didn't resist at all; he just let himself slip into the dream, sending back thoughts of utmost gratitude.   
  
This time, he paid attention to his surroundings.  
  
* * *  
  
Ulala smiled to herself. _Did I really get through to her?_ she inwardly rejoiced. If they could get Mai safely returned to her family, they could help her, start her on a path to recovery, and surely she would know where to find Ichirou. Everything was going to be alright. She had done it, and more importantly, she had done it on her own.   
  
_I really did it! And I can't wait to see the look on Baofu's -_  
  
That's when it happened. A familiar tingling at the back of her neck, the sudden panic on Mai's face, and the faintest sound of breathing all hit her awareness at once. She had no time to react, however, before she felt a brutal punch in her right shoulder. She cried out, her eyes wide with surprise and fear, before sinking to her knees.  
  
She shuddered and gasped, trying to block out the pain that was tearing through her body. _Got to move_, she thought. _Move!_ She threw herself into a sidewise roll, turning twice before coming up against the curtained wall. Her shoulder screamed and she had to bite her tongue to keep it from screaming too, but she knew that another blow would have been worse.  
  
Her attacker, a young man in black that she could only assume was Ichirou, was thankfully distracted for the moment by violent protestations from Mai. Ulala winced as she reached around with her left hand to test the wound. _Blood,_ she thought, surprised to feel the growing dampness on her shirt. _The bastard stabbed me!_ Her right arm felt dull and heavy, and she could barely move the fingers of that hand.   
  
_Shit,_ she cursed silently. _What the hell do I do now?_  
  
* * *  
  
Baofu jumped up. "I know where she is," he said.  
  
Katsuya turned. "Where?" he said, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses.  
  
"The Time Castle. There's no mistaking it." He gritted his teeth. "She was in bad shape, Suou."  
  
The two men nodded to each other, and Katsuya rolled his sleeves up to the elbows. "That's not far, only two blocks north and a cut across the empty lot," he said. "Want to run?"  
  
"Let's."  
  
* * *   
  
The two kids were yelling now. Ulala could see that Ichirou was waving a long switchblade, probably the same one he had just stuck in her shoulder. The pain was dull now, almost numb, and shock was starting to give way to anger. She struggled to her feet. _I don't need any working hands to kill this boy_, she thought fiercely.  
  
Mai and Ichirou were so absorbed in their dispute that neither of them even saw her stand up. "What's wrong with you?" Mai demanded shrilly. "Attacking an innocent person, are you out of your mind? We can't cover this up anymore! I don't want to be involved!"  
  
"You wouldn't be anything without me!" the boy shouted. "I don't want to hear you complaining about how I do things, alright?" She shook her head and started to respond, but before she could say anything he raised his hand and slapped her brutally across the face.   
  
She cried out and stumbled backwards, touching her cheek gingerly with the tips of her fingers. For a moment it looked like she might cry, but by the time she straightened up all fear and hesitation had fled from her face. The terrible, hateful expression she wore now could only mean one thing. Ichirou laughed; it sounded like a series of low staccato barks. "You wouldn't," he said with a snarl. "You couldn't take me."  
  
"Maybe not," said Ulala from behind him. He whirled to find that she was standing between him and the exit with a sadistic grin on her face. "But there's something my partner always says. Never get between two women. Because no matter whose side you start out on, you always end up in the gutter."  
  
The boy sneered and slowly moved towards her, his switchblade still dripping with her blood. "Stupid bitch," he growled. "I'll make you wish you'd never opened your ugly mouth."  
  
Behind him, Mai raised both of her hands. "Persephone," she incanted, her voice even and calm. "I need you now. Show your fair face and bring this boy the humble taste of mortality." There was an incredible flash and the avatar of pale light that was both Mai and not Mai surrounded her and rose above her head.   
  
Ichirou spun to face her, his eyes darkened by anger and fear. "Hades!" he shouted, fighting with the din of light and sound that was already filling the room. "Ruler of the dead! Come, punish these fools that dare to challenge your authority!" Ulala felt a sick dread wash over her as the dark turmoil of Ichirou's persona clashed with the stark brilliance of Mai's. She shielded her face and closed her eyes.  
  
"Asteria," she whispered, and it was all she needed to say.  
  
While both Mai and Ichirou's personae were strong and powerful, they were also uncontrolled. Ulala's discipline and experience with Asteria simply outclassed both of them. Her warmth washed over the room like the sea lapping at sandy shores on some distant island. Ichirou clapped his hands over his ears and dropped to the floor, the sickening presence of Hades diminishing and then fading. He resisted the effects of the sleep-spell long enough to scramble to the back wall of the room, where he huddled against the dark curtains. Mai and Persephone were unable to resist, and they strayed in the dream; when the tide had ebbed the young woman was fast asleep on the priceless Oriental rug and her persona was dormant once more.   
  
The room quiet and normal again, Ulala fell to one knee, panting softly. Summoning her persona had taxed her more than she expected; she was having a hard time even seeing straight. _Dizzy._ Her mind spun as she turned to crawl back out to the store. _Need to... get out now._ Slowly she made her way through the dark hallway, dragging herself along with her left hand. Her right arm was now completely limp, and the entire back side of her shirt was heavy with warm, sticky blood. She began to understand that despite her victory, her current situation was not so good.  
  
The door presented a problem, and she ended up sitting on her butt and kicking the damn thing open with both feet. The store was dark, and appeared to be locked up for the night. _Stupid Count,_ she thought dumbly, and then turned her mind to the more productive idea of finding a phone.   
  
Ulala had almost made it to the desk when the door shuddered twice and then flew open. Two pairs of feet came in, paused, then ran over to where she lay on the ground. She was dimly aware of voices, and one of the owners of the feet slapped her face lightly. "...up... stay with us... -lala..."   
  
I know that voice, she thought with sudden clarity. Her eyes blinked open and she found herself staring up at two very concerned and soggy-looking detectives. She giggled.  
  
"My god, what happened to her?" It was Baofu.  
  
"Silly," she said, her voice slow and sticky in her throat. "I came, I saw... I conquered." A raspy laugh escaped her lips. "And then, I got stabbed. Isn't that... always the way?" She closed her eyes and finally, blissfully, everything went black.


	12. Chapter 11: Contact

--------  
Chapter 11 - Contact  
  
_Music I can wish you, merry music while you're young,   
And wisdom when your hair has turned to gray.   
But more I cannot wish you than to wish you find your love,   
Your own true love, this day.  
  
-Guys and Dolls, "More I Cannot Wish You"_  
--------  
  
It wasn't fair.  
  
The tall machine hummed as Tatsuya carefully manipulated the joystick. When he was satisfied with the position of the metal arm, he mashed the big red button on the side. The claw opened, dropped to a pile of keychains and toys, and closed on the ear of a little stuffed pig. The chain retracted, pulling the feeble claw up and off of his prize's fuzzy pink ear, and the mechanism snapped back empty-handed to its starting position. His expression fell and he turned to go back to Maya sans piggy and three dollars poorer.   
  
"I'm less of a man," he said dejectedly, hanging his head and stuffing his hands into his pockets.  
  
She laughed, but didn't look away from the fighting game she was playing. "Don't feel bad. Those things are rigged anyway," she said, furrowing her brow in concentration. On the screen, her avatar ducked into a low kick only to be picked up and thrown across the stage by the grotesque cyber-human that was her opponent. It strutted over and stepped on her head, flexing as the words GAME OVER flashed across the screen.   
  
"Tch!" she said, releasing the controller. "The computer plays so cheap."  
  
"You're pretty good though," said Tatsuya with a grin. "For a girl."  
  
Maya stuck her tongue out at him. "If you're nice I won't tell your brother you said that," she said, stepping aside to let a group of younger kids use the machine. "Do you want me to get more tokens?"  
  
He shook his head. "It's alright. I'm getting tired, and you've done enough for me tonight anyway."  
  
She smiled. "It's the least I can do." They started to make their way through the crowd back out to the parking lot. "Did you have a good time?"  
  
He shrugged and zipped up his jacket. The sliding glass doors to the arcade shicked open and closed as they passed through. "Yeah, it was fun. Thanks for taking me to the movie and everything." He gave her a slightly worried glance. "Are you sure you don't want me to pay you back for any of it? I mean, I do have money."  
  
Maya smiled and nodded. "It's okay, really. Save your money. Besides," she hesitated. "Well, let's just say I owe Katsuya in more ways than one. He's helped me a lot in the past." She looked away. _I wish I could tell you what a hero your brother was_, she thought sadly. _Or for that matter, what a hero you were._  
  
Tatsuya looked over at her. She seemed to be focused straight ahead, a strong sense of purpose showing in the way she walked. She had tied her hair back in a loose knot that was held in place by a plastic clip. A piece of it came loose and flopped back in forth in the wind; it fell across her eyes, yet she hardly noticed. A nervous and strangely familiar feeling rose in his gut; he shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. _Déjà vu_, he thought. _Maybe I do know her from somewhere. The Zodiac maybe?_ "Are you okay?" he finally said, after they had gone almost two blocks in silence.  
  
"Oh?" she looked up and then blushed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so quiet. I guess I'm tired too." She flashed him an apologetic smile and brushed the lock of hair back behind her ear. "Do you know what time it is?"  
  
"It was about nine when we left the arcade."  
  
She looked around at the darkened street. It was still early and groups of people wandered along the sidewalk, ducking in and out of shops and bars. "Well, I'll walk you home. Then my babysitting duty will be done for the night." She grinned but almost immediately regretted the joke when she saw the slightly hurt expression on Tatsuya's face.  
  
"Not that I think you're a baby," she added hastily. "I just meant, that's how Katsuya treats -" she saw anger flare in the teenager's eyes and she slapped her forehead. _Maya, just stop talking_. "Er, forget I said anything."  
  
Tatsuya said nothing, just turned to start walking again. Maya followed quietly along, careful to keep her distance and not crowd him. _He's a different person, but so much is the same,_ she thought, trying hard to keep her eyes off of him. _The way he talks and acts - it's all so comfortable, so familiar._  
  
"I'm sorry," he said, breaking the awkward silence. He looked intensely at the ground in front of them. "I'm still pretty sensitive about my big brother. We've had a lot of trouble getting along."  
  
Maya nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said. "You're the moon and stars to Katsuya. It must be stifling sometimes."  
  
Tatsuya looked up at her with a relieved smile. "Exactly!" He stretched his arms out and sighed. "Most people stick up for him. They won't shut up about what a great guy he is. I know that he is; I just get tired of hearing it."  
  
They turned a corner and walked along the graffiti-painted wall of old brick building. Overhead, a row of streetlights detected their motion and clicked on, giving the sensation of a wide lighted walkway stretching out before them. Maya smiled at the sight. "I guess I knew someone like you, once. He told me that being under someone's wing means always living in their shadow." She kicked at a stray stone. "I learned that you shouldn't shelter people you love, you should... toss them in the air! And they might fall, take a few scrapes and bruises, but eventually they'll learn to fly on their own." They walked in silence for a few minutes, and then she laughed awkwardly. "Was that terribly cheesy?"  
  
Tatsuya grinned and nodded. "It was pretty bad. But I know what you mean." He looked up at the sky. "Maybe you could teach that to my brother. I think someone like you would be good for him."  
  
Maya nearly stumbled. The wind had died down and the air felt very still. _Does he really think that Katsuya and I are dating?_ She shook her head, laughing nervously. "Oh, I'm not... I mean, we're not..."  
  
He gave her a look. "You don't have to be modest," he insisted. "I don't mind."  
  
"Oh, I'm not being modest," she said firmly. The Suou's apartment building came up on their right, and Tatsuya took out his keys to open the front door. "We're really not like that."  
  
They stepped into the hall, a young couple brushing by them on their way out. "Well," Tatsuya said, as they got to his door, "think about it at least. He likes you a lot." She blushed and he grinned impishly. "And I think he's been lonely lately. You should see how he whimpers when he watches those evening drama shows."  
  
Maya covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. "You're a good brother," she said with a smile. She looked him over, surprised to discover that for the first time all night she wasn't uncomfortable with doing so. Instead of guilty and lustful, she felt genuine, healthy affection growing in her heart. He's a really sweet kid, she thought. I never thought of him that way before, because he was always trying to act older. "I think you two will be alright. And as for Katsuya and I, well..." she laughed. No promises, but I'll think about it." She blinked, hardly able to believe what she'd just heard herself say. _I must be off my gourd._  
  
Tatsuya grinned. "I guess I can accept that." His keys jangled against one another as he turned to unlock the door. He pushed it open, revealing their darkened and slightly messy living room. His rumpled futon was still spread on the floor and there was a pile of automotive magazines collecting by the wall. "Wanna come in?" he asked. "If you don't mind the mess."  
  
"Oh, I don't," she said hastily. It took her a moment to remember that this Tatsuya had no memory of her apartment, and another moment for her to be grateful for that fact. "And I would love to stay longer, but I'm worried about Ulala. I think I should call your brother, then go home and wait for her." She dug around in her jacket pocket and fished out a pen and her wallet. After extracting a business card from the latter, she turned it over in her hand and wrote her number on the back. "Here," she said, handing it to Tatsuya. "This is my mobile phone, so you can call me any time if you need me."  
  
Tatsuya looked at the small white card, tracing the scrawled number there with his eyes. It was a kindness that he wasn't used to, and he felt surprisingly disarmed by it. _She seems to trust me so much_, he thought. "Thank you," he said softly.  
  
She looked up at him and reached out to put a reassuring hand on his arm. "I know things seem rough right now." It was the beginning of a speech, one that she had practiced many times since the day he left her. She'd told it to herself at night, when she was lonely, and she promised herself that she'd tell him someday too. It seemed like today was that day. Admittedly, it was sooner than she'd expected.   
  
"You feel lost and aimless," she continued. "You feel broken up, like part of you is missing, or maybe it was never there." Her free hand hung at her side, fingers twisting nervously in the fabric of her skirt. "But believe me when I say that you are a very unique and special person. You have so much potential. And the people that love you... they just want you to realize that potential." She smiled wryly. "You may not know it, but there are a lot of them out there. People that love you."   
  
Tatsuya looked at her for a long time. An open, genuine, and slightly vulnerable smile spread across his face. He felt happy and safe in a way that he thought he'd lost. _It doesn't make sense, but I feel like I can trust her too_. He hesitated, then leaned forward and kissed her cheek awkwardly. "Thanks for keeping me company tonight," he said. "I hope your friend is okay. Take care, big sis." With that, he turned and disappeared into his apartment, leaving Maya stunned and silent in the hall.  
  
She reached up and touched her face with the tips of her fingers. Her eyes quivered, as though she expected to cry, but no tears came. Instead, she smiled slightly, and happy warmth pricked little roses on her cheeks. "Big sis," she said under her breath. "You know, I could get used to that."  
  
She made her way back out to the street, humming lightly as she walked.  
  
* * *  
  
When Maya got back to her apartment, she opened the door dramatically, half-expecting to see Ulala singing loudly with her headphones on or fruitlessly cleaning up the place. Instead, the apartment was silent and she found herself alone in a dark room for the third time that week. _This is getting to be something of a trend_, she thought.  
  
She flicked on the light and threw her jacket onto a convenient pile. Sinking into a beanbag chair, she took out her phone and tried Katsuya's number again. So far there had been no answer; this time was no different. _He must be out of batteries_, she thought with mild frustration, and kicked her shoes off. The beanbag squeaked and groaned as she lay back, her neck cradled on the chair and her legs stretched out over the carpet. She set the phone on her stomach just in case he got it into his thick head to call her.  
  
She fell asleep like that, and had been that way for over an hour when a loud knock came at her door. It roused her, but she had only just sat up when the door opened slowly, and someone poked their head in. She squinted and rubbed her eyes. "Hello?" she said, sleepily. "Ulala?"  
  
Familiar red glasses and brown hair came into focus, and Katsuya looked over at her. "Ah, Miss Amano!" he said, then flushed and withdrew his head. "I'm so sorry, did I wake you?" he called through the door from the hall. "The door was open, so I thought..."  
  
She laughed and smoothed her hair down. "No, you did me a favor. I wouldn't have wanted to spend the night on this thing anyway." She tucked her legs underneath her and stood, still a little shaky. "Come on in, I'm decent." He poked his head in again, confirmed that she was dressed, and the rest of him followed. The door closed quietly behind him.   
  
"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered, disarmed by her rumpled appearance. His cheeks were flushed and he seemed out of breath, as though he'd been hurrying.  
  
Maya rolled her eyes. "You've seen me in worse shape, Katsuya," she said, kicking aside a small pile of dirty underwear. "If it offends your delicate sensibilities that much, I'll go get cleaned up."  
  
"No no," Katsuya said, shaking his head. He looked at her appreciatively, his pale eyes sharp even behind his trademark glasses. "You look great that way. I mean -" He winced. _Smooth._ "I mean, you always look great. N-not that that's why I'm here. Not for... you know. Oh, god. That sounds terrible, I'm sorry." He took off his glasses and cleaned them nervously with a handkerchief, averting his eyes.  
  
She raised her eyebrows. _Even Katsuya isn't normally this strung out_. She walked over to him. Her hands stilled his and she looked up into his bare eyes. "Tell me what's wrong." Memory trickled back through her sleepy head and her heart skipped a beat. "Is it Ulala? Please tell me she's alright."  
  
He nodded slowly. "It is, and she is." His hands pulled away from hers and he replaced his glasses, regaining a little bit of his usual calmness. "It seems that she did what none of us could; she figured out where Mai and Ichirou were hiding. And she went there, alone."  
  
Maya stepped backward and raised her hand to her lips. She felt suddenly ashamed of her feeling of surprise. _I didn't really think she could do it._ The realization disgusted her. _I didn't have faith in her, so I didn't worry about her going alone. And it got her in trouble._ "What happened?" Her voice was cold and distant.  
  
"She handled herself very well," he said softly. "You would have been proud of her."  
  
She shook her head. "What happened?" she demanded.  
  
Katsuya pursed his lips. "We don't know everything yet. When Baofu and I found her, she was practically unconscious. She had been stabbed in the shoulder, and we think she must have summoned her persona. The strain of that, coupled with the loss of blood..." he trailed off. Maya could only look at him.  
  
"She's in the hospital now. She hasn't woken up yet; Baofu is with her. They say she's going to be fine. She needed stitches and some rest, so they're keeping her overnight, but she should be able to come home tomorrow afternoon." He reached out and touched Maya's shoulder gently. "I'm so sorry."  
  
She shook her head again, tears streaming down her numb cheeks. "I can't believe this happened," she cried, overwhelmed with images of Ulala prone and bleeding on the floor, her pale face in the hospital bed, her pretty eyes full of pain and fear. "I shouldn't have let her go alone."  
  
"Maya," Katsuya said softly. "This isn't your fault." It occurred to her dimly that he'd never called her by her first name before. Somehow, it pulled her back from her morbid imaginings; it grounded her. She looked up at him.  
  
He stepped forward and hugged her gently. She closed her eyes and hugged him back, pressing her face against the rough fabric of his jacket. The sudden intimacy surprised both of them, but the comfort was no less welcome. A ragged sigh escaped her lips and sanity crept slowly back to her. She pulled back reluctantly and he let her go.  
  
She dropped wearily back into her beanbag chair, sniffling and wiping her face with her hands. "God, I must look awful," she said morosely. Katsuya smiled and knelt in front of her.   
  
"Glad to see you're feeling better," he said, cuffing her chin lightly. She laughed despite her tears and looked up at him. She noticed for the first time that he seemed incredibly worn and tired himself. _This must have been hard for him too,_ she thought. _God, I didn't even think about how he was feeling._  
  
"Tatsuya is okay," she said helpfully. "That's one less thing you have to worry about. He's safely at home, and he has my cell phone number in case he needs anything." She smiled proudly.  
  
Katsuya gave her a grateful smile and his body relaxed at the mention of his little brother. He sank back into a sitting position and nodded, running one hand through his hair. Maya smiled at the boyish gesture. _He looked like Tatsuya just then,_ she thought. _Or maybe it's getting to be the other way around._ "What did you two do?" he asked.   
  
"Well, he dragged me to some samurai sword fighting movie, after which I got a nice long lecture on the history of Japanese combat styles. Seems he's still quite knowledgeable about that sort of thing." She grinned. "Then we went to the arcade and played games for a while. We both got tired, so I walked him home, and the rest is history."  
  
He looked at her evenly, his pale eyes searching her face. "And... are you okay?" he asked, slightly embarrassed.  
  
She looked up at him and smiled warmly. "You know, I think I am." Visible relief washed over the young detective's face. With one hand she reached out and patted his knee. "Tatsuya is a wonderful kid, and he loves his older brother like nobody's business. With all that looking out for him you do, you may not notice that he does a lot for you too."  
  
Katsuya tilted his head and gave her a quizzical look. "What did he tell you?" he asked warily, a small smile creeping across his face. "I certainly hope it was nothing embarrassing."  
  
"Oh no," she laughed. "Nothing embarrassing at all." She leaned onto her hands and walked them forward so that she was almost nose to nose with the young detective. His eyed widened and he made a startled little noise as she turned her head to kiss him lightly on the cheek. She sat back with a little smile. "Consider that a message from him."  
  
He stared dumbly back at her, sudden heat flushing his cheeks. "I'll have to... thank him later," he managed to squeak out. _Contact,_ he thought. It was all he could think; the word and the idea buzzed continuously through his head as he reached up to touch his face. _Is it real?_  
  
Maya grinned and leaned back in her chair, causing its foam stuffing to groan and grumble menacingly. "So," she said. "Want a drink or something?"  
  
Katsuya stood and took off his jacket, looking around for a place to put it before just throwing it on top of hers. "Nothing would be more welcome," he said, offering his hand to help her up.  
  
She took it.  
  
* * *  
  
_Water, clear blue water, stretching all the way to the horizon. I watch it sparkle and move as I walk along the beach. The trees close in on me. I struggle._  
  
"...a few days, no word yet on whether..."  
  
_Two birds fly overhead. I reach up with my arms, and they grow long, long enough to catch the birds in my hands. They beat their wings to pull me up and away, but I'm too heavy, and I fall into the sea._   
  
"...not too late. A transfusion would..."  
  
_The water is thick and salty in my mouth. I struggle to swim, but my arms are still stretched out and limp. The pretty sea washes around me and pulls me down. I can't keep my head -_   
  
_I can't keep my head -_  
  
"...come back to me..."  
  
_- treading water. Breathing, I see the stars. Look up, fall forward into them, dizzying barrel towards one bright shine._   
  
I open my eyes.   
  
Ulala blinked, momentarily disoriented by the dazzling white lights. Around her the walls and ceiling melted together into a glossy blank haze. _Where am I?_ she thought dimly. _Is this heaven?_  
  
Her eyes slipped down the nondescript wall to a black smudge that wavered before her vision. She heard noises, and then there was movement, two more smudges appearing beside the first. They bobbed up and down and she was dimly aware of someone touching her wrist. Something next to her whirred and the dreamy cloud she was floating on started to dissipate. She blinked as her eyes regained their focus, and her mind struggled to orient itself.  
  
The white haze retreated to the edges of her vision, and she became aware of the bed she was in. On three sides there were translucent curtains suspended from wheeled frames. At her feet she could make out two forms in pale blue, a man and a woman that spoke in hushed tones.   
  
"Hello?" she said tentatively, her voice squeaking through dry lips.  
  
One of the blue forms drew close and stood beside her bed. His face was kind and soft, and she could see that he was smiling. "Hello," he said. "I see you're awake now."  
  
Ulala looked up at him. He was very tall, and seemed to be burly in contrast to his gentle demeanor. "Yeah," she said, trying in vain to sit up. "Ow."  
  
The blue man touched her shoulder and pushed her back to her pillow. "Just rest for now. You're at St. Jude's Hospital. My name is Dr. Grey." He took off his nametag and gave it to her.  
  
She ran her fingers over the etched plastic, then stuck it into the breast of her gown. The doctor laughed. "Now you're Dr. Grey, it seems. Don't go mad with the power."   
  
Ulala gave him a weak smile and looked down at her body. She seemed to be all in one piece, save for a dull aching in her shoulder and an IV that was taped to the back of her hand. Clear fluid dripped through the long, thin tube and she wondered what it could be. "What happened?" she asked.  
  
Dr. Grey looked at a clipboard that hung around his neck. "Let's see. When you were brought in, you had a stab wound in your right shoulder, and you had suffered from a moderate amount of blood loss, as well as exhaustion." There was a soft noise as he flipped the page. "The wound was deep, but clean; we patched it right up, so it should heal without a problem. What you need most of all is rest, and the intravenous fluid will help replenish your system to recover from the blood loss."  
  
She closed her eyes, memory of the experience flooding back to her. _Katsuya and Baofu,_ she thought. _They found me, didn't they?_ "How long was I asleep?" she said.  
  
The doctor looked at his watch. "Looks like you've been unconscious for about five hours now. Lucky girl, you get to meet the night shift." He grinned. "If you're good and get lots of rest tonight, we should be able to let you go home tomorrow."  
  
He beckoned the nurse over and introduced her as Miss Hata. "She's going to take care of you now, but I'll be back to check on you later. Remember, try to relax." He bowed and turned to exit through the curtains, throwing her a wink over his shoulder as he left.  
  
"You can call me Yuuki," the nurse said with a smile. "Would you like to sit up for a while?"  
  
Ulala nodded and licked her lips. "Water too," she said, suddenly aware of the dryness in her throat. The young woman left for a moment and returned with two fluffy white pillows and a pitcher of water. She helped Ulala sit up, then arranged the pillows behind her so that she could lean back comfortably. The water she left with two empty cups on the bedside table.  
  
"You can press this button here to turn on the television," she said, indicating a remote that was built into the bedframe. "The big one there calls me, if you need anything, and this red one calls the doctor if there's an emergency." She straightened up. "Is there anything else you need right now?"  
  
Ulala shook her head. The nurse bowed and turned to leave, but as she pushed the curtain aside, Ulala called out to her. "Wait," she said, raising her hand. "I was brought in by two men. Are they... are they still here?"  
  
Yuuki looked over her shoulder and nodded. "Yes, there's one man here. The time for visitors is over, but he wanted to stay until you woke up." She smiled. "He's been waiting in the hall for hours. Is he family? I can send him in to sit with you if you like."  
  
Ulala leaned back and turned her head to the side. "Yes," she said softly, closing her eyes. "I'd like that."  
  
The curtains swished quietly as the young nurse passed through them, then they opened again a few minutes later. Ulala heard heavy footfalls followed by the sound of someone sitting down in the plastic folding chair next to her bed. "Who is it?" she said meekly, keeping her eyes closed and her head turned away.   
  
The man cleared his throat. "It's Baofu," he said. His voice sounded dull and tired, and something else she wasn't sure she recognized.  
  
She bit her lip. Tears burned in her eyes and she fought them back, scrunching up her shoulders. _Don't cry,_ she told herself. _You've come this far, don't cry now._ "Baofu," she said, her voice wavering. "Did I win?"   
  
"I think you did," he said. "Aside from the part where you took a knife in the back."  
  
She forgot her insecurity for the moment and wrinkled her nose in irritation. "Yeah well, we can't all be ex-special investigators, can we?"  
  
"It's better that way," he remarked.  
  
"So where's Big Suou?"   
  
He shifted. "He went home a few hours ago. They said you probably wouldn't wake up tonight."  
  
"Oh." She fell silent, twisting the hem of the sheet in her fingers. "Why didn't you go home too?"  
  
A pause. "I wanted to be here when you woke up."  
  
Ulala opened her eyes and stared at the soft white expanse of her pillowcase. "Why?" she asked quietly, still turned away from him.  
  
"Why?" He paused. "Because... this morning the sun didn't rise. I didn't get a damn thing done, I couldn't focus, I couldn't -" his voice broke. "I looked for you, and I waited for you to wake up, just so that I could feel like a person again. I wanted to see you, so that I could finally start my day." He sounded strained and frustrated, and also just a little bit lonely.   
  
The mattress squeaked as Ulala sat up. She turned and faced him for the first time, surprised to see that he had his hair pulled back in a long ponytail and his signature sunglasses were absent. She watched with wide eyes as he stood and walked to the side of her bed. With one hand he reached out and stroked her hair, brushing it gently up and out of her face. She made a startled noise and closed her eyes, her body relaxing back against the pile of pillows.   
  
She felt hypnotized by the slow, even rhythm of his touch. Somehow, it cooled her forehead and eased her mind. _I don't know what to feel anymore_, she thought, drifting in a sleepy haze.  
  
"Baofu," she whispered, after some time had passed. "I missed you." His hand hesitated and hovered above her head. _Oh no_, she thought, waking up from her half-dream. _I shouldn't have said that_.   
  
"Oh," he said after a moment, then resumed stroking her hair. "Well, I missed you too."   
  
He said it like it was the easiest thing he ever had to say. Ulala blinked, then with a quick movement reached up and snatched his wrist roughly. She tugged on it, hard, disrupting his balance so that he fell heavily onto the bed. Startled, he scrambled into a sitting position.  
  
"What's wrong with you, wom-" he started to say, but she jabbed her finger into his chest and silenced him.   
  
"You always do that!" she said, her nose wrinkled in annoyance. "You blithely throw out these little lines that shock the hell out of everyone, and act all easygoing about it like you're the only person who's not surprised." She crossed her arms over her chest and her face settled into an angry pout. "You always have to come off sounding like the smart one, and I really hate it."  
  
Baofu stared back at her. His mouth opened and closed once, then twice, and then he started to laugh, his shoulders shaking as he bent forward to clutch his stomach. After almost two minutes of this, he gasped for air, wiping tears away from his eyes. Ulala just glared at him. "I'm glad you think it's so funny," she said coldly.  
  
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, little laughs still hiccupping in his chest. When he was certain that it had passed, he looked up at her with a curious smile. "Did it really surprise you that much?"  
  
Her hands dropped to her sides and she nodded. "Oh," he said thoughtfully. His dark eyes looked to the side, then back to her face. "It didn't surprise me."  
  
She sniffed. "Does anything?"  
  
"Sometimes," he said, and picked up one of her hands in his own. He looked at it carefully, tracing the lines of her palm with his thumb, and gently touching the tips of his fingers to hers. She held her breath, acutely aware of every sensation in her hand; it felt so much smaller and more fragile than his. After a long moment of this, their hands finally clasped firmly together. She sighed, partly in relief, partly in exhilaration, and Baofu took advantage of this wonderful opportunity to lean forward and give her lips something better to do.  
  
They kissed for a long time, but it was different from their first encounter. It was softer, less frantic, as though neither of them was in any particular rush to get anywhere. For a while, at least, their minds slowed and came to a halt while they gave themselves up to each other. At some point Nurse Yuuki came by to check on Ulala, but when she stuck her head in and saw the two of them entwined on the bed, she simply blushed and smiled, and left without a word.  
  
When they finally broke apart, Baofu pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Did that surprise you?" he asked softly.   
  
"No," she lied.  
  
He smiled and leaned his forehead against hers. "Me neither." His fingers toyed with her hair as they sat in mutual silence, just breathing - in, and out, together. "Ulala," he finally said, drowsily.  
  
"Mmmm?"  
  
He touched a finger to the nametag pinned on her gown. "Who's Dr. Grey?"


	13. Chapter 12: Hard but Hardly

A/N: So it's been over a year since I last updated this story, and if there's anyone still following it I sincerely apologize for the long break. I always wanted to finish it, so I hope I can pick up where I left off. Also, a big thank you to those of you who have reviewed and given me your feedback - it is very much appreciated. You guys are great :) -C

* * *

Chapter 12  
Hard but Hardly

* * *

Somewhere in her dreams, Mai was hearing music. It was cool, like a gasp from a dusty windowsill air conditioner across her heated forehead. She stirred, turning her head from side to side, chasing pale shadows from the edges of her consciousness. She didn't want to wake, but the lilting refrain nagged at her mind until her eyes sluggishly blinked open. 

_Where am I_, she thought, as an unfamiliar paneled ceiling came into focus. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to remember what had happened. _I was at the Count's. There was a woman. She... _Her eyes opened wide. _Ichirou._

She tried to lift her head, only to have it snap back harshly against the pillow. Groaning softly, she turned her head to one side, noting that padded leather restraints bound her chest and wrists. _Oh,_ she thought numbly. _That's right. I'm a dangerous criminal now._ She bit her tongue to keep from giggling madly. Then the thought of going to jail swiftly stilled her mirth.

_I guess it's true what they say,_ a voice in her head chided softly. _You can never go home again._

Lifting her head again, more carefully this time, the dark-haired girl tried to take a survey of her surroundings. Sea-foam green curtains fringed her peripheral vision on both sides, attached to sliding rings on the ceiling. Strips of sterile flourescent lighting hummed quietly as her eyes slid down to the wall in front of her. Beyond her feet, which were also held in soft leather restraints, she could see a single cabinet sporting a stainless steel sink and a round magnifying mirror tilted to one side. She almost smiled.

In the mirror, she could see the wall concealed behind the curtain to her right. A closed door stood in the middle of the wall, and in the door there was a window. It was small and frosted, so that she could see nothing clearly, but whenever someone walked by the shadow of their silhouette flickered dimly across the textured surface.

It wasn't much, but it was enough. She let her head fall back, closing her eyes against a sudden wave of nausea. After a few deep breaths, she began to move her right hand slowly, concentrating hard on pulling her fingers inward, contracting her palm, working against the restraint. Her lower lip quivered and beads of sweat began to trickle down her face from the painstaking effort.

She bit back tears and steeled herself against the pain. _Hard_, she thought. _But hardly impossible_.

It was just a matter of time.

* * *

"Dear Ulala. Get well soon. The apartment is a mess. Love, Maya." Ulala read her card out loud before setting it on the table next to her. "What a lovely sentiment," she chuckled, struggling to see around the unnecessarily large bouquet of flowers on her lap. "Ma-ya," she added. "These wouldn't be guilt flowers, would they?" 

"Not at all!" her roommate chirped, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Ulala gave her a look and her shoulders sagged a little. "Okay, maybe a little." She sighed softly. "I feel terrible. I shouldn't have let you go alone."

"Ma-ya," Ulala said, smiling gently. She huffed and handed the cumbersome bouquet to Baofu, who took it awkwardly and did his best to look like he was holding it for someone else. She brushed her hands against the smooth hospital blanket before taking one of Maya's into her own. "I'm sorry I scared you. But I made my own decision," she urged. "Please don't blame yourself. Any of you." She glanced up at Baofu and Katsuya, who stood off to one side. The lanky investigator cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up his nose with one long finger.

Maya clenched her hand tightly. "Ulala," she said, a shy smile appearing on her face. "I was worried. And I don't ever want to go through that again! But still... I'm really proud of you."

Ulala flushed, her eyes twinkling happily under her tousled red hair. She reached up to brush a part of it out of her face, taking care not to jostle her injured shoulder. That morning they'd taken the IV out and declared that her system was recovering nicely. Not that she'd been able to palate any of the mush they'd shoved at her for breakfast. She was beginning to wish Maya's guilt flowers were edible.

"I did do pretty okay," she grinned, turning back towards her friend. "Not bad, even! And believe me when I say that clocking the Count was the best thing I have _ever_ done. Pun very much intended."

Maya laughed, her hair glinting in the sunlight streaming in from the window. "You were great. Katsuya says they have both children in custody now. The Time Castle is closed for the investigation, which should inconvenience Senor Monoclock for a couple of days at least. And," she glanced mischievously over at Baofu. "I'd say that warrants a raise or something, wouldn't you?"

Baofu snorted. "Like hell it does. If she got a compensation review every time she knocked out a sadistic bastard, I'd be out of business before you could say 'Makimura'."

"Aww, Bao," Ulala screwed her face into a mock pout. "Not even a bonus?"

He raised one eyebrow suggestively, hooking it into an amused arc above his trademark sunglasses. "What," he drawled, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "This job doesn't have enough benefits for you?" Ulala stuck out her tongue and turned back to Maya, who wore a look that demanded immediate and thorough explanation.

"Oh yeah," she laughed nervously, wringing her hands in the hem of her blanket. "That."

As she tried her best to tastefully explain the situation, Katsuya just looked impassively out the window. Baofu's imploring look and the tittering voices of the girls behind him barely registered on his senses. He didn't feel connected to what was going on around him; the hospital bed, the pool of sunlight, the bright array of flowers. Something in his investigator's instinct wouldn't let him relax just yet. There were too many loose ends. Too many unanswered questions.

He frowned and glanced over at Maya, who was shaking Ulala's arm and practically beaming. She saw his look and smiled brightly at him. He nodded, forcing a smile despite the thoughts that weighed on his mind. _And there is still the matter of Tatsuya._

Still, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty about not sharing in the happy occasion. After all, Miss Serizawa had performed brilliantly, and they had the suspects safely restrained. He had little doubt that the investigation would go smoothly, assuming that the Time Count didn't press assault charges. But he'd have to have more than an ace up his sleeve to pull that one off, given that as far as anyone could tell, he didn't have an identity to press charges with. Ulala seemed to be recovering quite well from her injury, and soon everything would be as it was. He might even have a stack of paperwork at the station to keep him busy for a few weeks. The possibility seemed almost appealing.

He should have known it wouldn't be that easy, but you know what they say about hindsight. And for some lucky few, foresight.

As if on cue, Baofu's head snapped up in alarm. A split second later, Katsuya's cell phone clamored against his breast.

"Damn," he cursed, and snatched it out of his jacket. "Suou."

Ulala and Maya looked up at the two men, their happy faces falling as silence descended on the room. They didn't need to hear from Katsuya what was already written on Baofu's face. The young investigator nodded solemnly to the thin voice on the other end of the line. "I understand," he said. "I'll be right there." He closed his phone with a diminutive click and looked up at them.

"She's gone," he said.

Ulala sighed and wished she could be surprised.

* * *

Katsuya was livid. He'd done a good job of containing his anger in front of his friends, but as soon as he met up with the other officers he made it quite clear how he felt. 

"I want to know how this happened," he growled, cornering the two police officers who had been in charge of her custody. "I'll give you five minutes to explain it before I recommend to the captain that he bust both of your asses back to the beat."

The two men looked at each other for a moment, then spoke up at the same time, each clamoring over the other.

"We did what you said, we restrained her and everything -"

"- she was securely fastened to the bed, you can ask any of the orderlies -"

"- plus the doctor said she'd be unconscious for the rest of the day! That sedative she got hit with was savage, wasn't it..."

"Yeah, she was down for the count, no one knows how she woke up so soon."

"Or how she got out of her restraints." The officers nodded earnestly.

Katsuya closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He spoke very slowly and deliberately. "I don't care how she woke up so soon, or how she got out of her restraints. What I am interested in right now is, and stay with me on this one." He paused for dramatic effect. "What I'm interested in right now is how the hell she got out of this room!"

The two officers could only look at each other, then at Katsuya, then at each other again, then at the floor. Finally the shorter one spoke up. "Sir, we didn't establish a guard," he murmured apologetically.

The other one spoke up before Katsuya could tear into them. "You have to understand, we just thought this was a little girl. She's restrained, heavily sedated, the door's locked and there are no windows." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir. We didn't know what we were dealing with."

The investigator took a deep breath and let it out slowly, folding his arms over his chest. "Just please tell me that Ichirou is still in custody."

They nodded. "Yes, sir. We put him in a separate hospital, just like you asked. Hartley Clinic up on Main. Officer Satou called them right after the incident and had the nurses put an extra watch on him. Apparently he hasn't even woken up yet."

Katsuya nodded, visible relief playing across his features. "I want you both to go over there, establish a guard outside of his room. At least two men at all times, in rotating shifts. Establish surveillance on the building's main entrances as well. I want to be notified if anything strange shows up, anything at all. Do not underestimate the situation again, do you understand me?"

They nodded their compliance, confusion showing in their faces. It was the short one that spoke up. "Sir, if I may ask, is this kid really that dangerous? He's still unconscious, isn't he?"

The investigator closed his eyes. "You're not going there to restrain him. You're going there to protect him. From a dangerous suspect with a penchant for vigilante justice." He opened them again, looking at them intently. "Do you understand?"

The officer whistled through his teeth. "I think I do, sir. Consider it done."

"Good. So do it." He watched them shuffle off, then turned his head thoughtfully. He touched two fingers to his temple, mulling over the situation in his mind. Mai was gone, having left them with no more evidence than an empty hospital bed and an abandoned patient's gown. At least he doubted that she had very many places to escape to. They already had men at the Time Castle and her family's house. That left the Zodiac, any number of teenage hangouts around town, and the school. After thinking for a moment, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed his home number. It rang three times before a gruff, sleepy voice answered it.

"Hello?"

"Tatsuya? Were you really still asleep? It's nearly one o'clock!"

The teenager stifled a yawn. "Yeah, and it's Saturday. What's your point?"

Katsuya shook his head. "Never mind. We can bicker about your sleeping habits later. Can you do something for me?"

"Depends. What's in it for me?"

He smirked wryly. "Room and board?"

"Touche."

"Can you go to Sevens and... now now, just quiet down for two seconds... yes, go to Sevens and take a look around, keep an eye out for a girl named Mai Ogawa. Do you know her? Yes, she's one of the suspects in the attack on the two students. No, _I_ didn't screw up and let her go, it was... look, never mind that right now. Will you do it for me?"

Tatsuya whined a bit more before reluctantly acquiescing. "Alright, fine. I'll look her up in the yearbook or something. Hanging out at school on a weekend, though... you owe me, Big Brother."

Katsuya smiled despite himself. "Okay, I owe you. We'll figure out compensation later. I seriously doubt she'll return to the school, but I want someone there just in case. Someone not as obvious as a cop. You're perfect for the job. Consider it valuable investigating experience."

The sound of eyes rolling could almost be heard over the line. "Yeah, yeah. Only for a few hours though. I'm going out later."

"Fine. Just call me when you're done. Oh, and - do you have a female friend you can bring?"

Tatsuya groaned. "I'm going to school on a Saturday and you're asking me to bring a date?"

"Tatsuya," Katsuya said, his voice low and warning. "This girl is very, very dangerous, even if she doesn't seem like it. And she might feel... threatened by men. You're just keeping watch, so I don't expect a confrontation, but I'd still feel much better about it if you had a girl with you. Besides," he added, with a more lighthearted tone. "It might be good for you."

"If that's your idea of a romantic outing, it's no wonder you never dated much."

"Provoking me won't help, you know. Listen, I've got to get back to work now. Get out there. Be safe. Let me know when you get home."

"Will do, Mom."

"Love you too." He grinned and clicked his phone shut before stuffing it back into his front pocket. Feeling that damage control had been more or less accomplished, and happy that he'd given his lazy lump of a brother something to do with his day, he decided it was finally time to get some real answers. He headed out to the street and hailed a cab, telling the driver to go to the Hartley Clinic on Main. He made a few more calls on the way, then turned his face towards the window, his mind churning as he watched the busy city streets pass by.


	14. Chapter 13: Little Boy, Big Man

* * *

Chapter 13 - Little Boy, Big Man

* * *

Tatsuya settled the phone back into its cradle, his fingers resting on the cool plastic for a moment before he turned away. Early afternoon sunlight was streaming in through white curtains and had heated up the small apartment. He rolled his shoulders stiffly, suddenly aware that the warm air had made him sticky and uncomfortable. He ran one hand over the back of his neck and it came away slick with sweat. _Guess I really shouldn't have slept so late,_ he thought distastefully. _ Right. Shower, then._

The lukewarm water was a relief to his skin and he sighed, leaning back against the cool porcelain tile. His eyes drifted closed as drops of water dripped down his face and tickled his eyelashes. He hugged himself, his arms crossing absent-mindedly over his chest, tiny pools collecting in the crooks of his elbows. He stood that way for several long minutes, hardly noticing the passage of time as he stood in a moment of rare balance with himself. _So comfortable,_ he thought vaguely. _Was I really that tense?_

At last he shifted, reluctantly pulling sticky skin away from the tiled wall. The water had grown hotter and steam was beginning to collect along the seams of the ceiling, which he followed with his eyes as he tilted his head back to allow the stream to trickle through his hair. A few strands clung to his face, slicks of water racing down them to cross his lips and drip from his chin. He exhaled with a fine spray of tiny droplets as he ran his hands over his eyes, sweeping his long bangs back out of his face.

He was normally very efficient in the shower, so having already wasted ten minutes he hurriedly went about his routine, washing his hair and body quickly. After a somewhat cursory rinse, he shut the faucet off, dripping water and the last clinging bits of lather as he stepped out and scooped up a towel. He hesitated at the mirror before jamming a toothbrush into his mouth and scrubbing diligently with one hand as he combed through his tangled locks with the fingers of the other. When he was done he looked a little less shaggy and smelled a whole lot better. Satisfied with this, he fixed a towel around his waist and strode out to the living room.

The air felt much cooler now as it struck his flushed skin, and he let himself air dry pleasantly while he folded up the futon and piled his blankets and pillows haphazardly on top of it. He kicked a pile of biker magazines and unfinished homework into one corner before looking about and declaring his housecleaning chores done for the day. Katsuya had given him a drawer in his little upright chest, which drew a small smile from Tatsuya as he dug through it for something appropriate to wear. He finally settled on black jeans and a faded red t-shirt.

"Should probably bring a sweatshirt too," he mused to himself as he plopped down on his brother's bed, tugging on a pair of mismatched socks. He leaned back on his elbows, exhaling slowly through pursed lips. "Now what did I do with it?"

He got up and emptied his drawer into a messy pile, sifting through it with one hand. _I bet Katsuya washed it,_ he thought, a look of annoyance passing over his face. _Damn it, I liked it the way it was. Guess it's probably in with his clothes somewhere._ He shrugged and pulled open his brother's drawers, looking through stacks of meticulously folded shirts and pants. _Geez, even his socks are folded,_ he smirked to himself, wrenching open another drawer.

He caught his breath at what he found there.

On one side was a stack of pressed wool slacks, nothing out of the ordinary from the rest of Katsuya's wardrobe. But the other side was empty save for a carefully folded red vinyl jacket and matching pants. Tatsuya ran his hands over the smooth surface of the material slowly, hooking his fingers around the collar to unfold it in his lap. A large 'x' was inscribed in black trim across the front of the jacket, which also had a straight silver zipper up the middle. "Whoa," he murmured under his breath. "What's he doing with something like this?"

He unzipped the jacket, fondling it appreciatively a bit more before slinging it around his shoulders and threading his long arms through the sleeves. It fit him perfectly, and he straightened up to look at himself in the mirror that hung over the chest of drawers. A small smile touched his lips as he admired the look of the jacket. He zipped it up slowly, hesitating before folding the collar up around his neck. "Not bad," he said out loud, sticking his hands in the pockets and turning to the side to see how it looked from the back.

To his surprise, his fingers closed around something smooth and cool in the right pocket. Curious, he clasped it in his hand and drew it out, tilting his head down to look at the small object that weighed heavily there.

It was a lighter, one of the old-fashioned metal ones that sparked when you flipped it open. He turned it over in his palm, surprised to see an inscription there. He ran his thumb over the slight indentations, reading it aloud as he went.

"The most important things can't be seen with the eyes..." His voice sounded faint to his own ears, his breath coming and going in shallow waves over his parted lips.

_I want you to have this..._  
_It's not even really like I'm giving it away..._

Tatsuya blinked and shook his head, chasing away the haze that nagged at the edges of his mind. He considered the lighter for a moment longer before palming it and sticking it back in his pocket. He wasn't sure where it had come from, but he felt a strange attachment to it. It was cool and comforting, and something else he couldn't quite describe.

Suddenly feeling silly for wasting so much time, he bent over to scoop his clothes off the floor and crammed them back into the drawer. He tidied up everything just as it was, but didn't take off the vinyl jacket. _It wouldn't fit Katsuya anyway,_ he thought, smirking at his reflection. _He must have gotten it for me. A surprise or something. I'll just wear it for the afternoon, and he'll never know it was gone. _

"Right," he said to the empty room. "Time for school."

* * *

It was a little after two o'clock when Tatsuya's bike skidded into the parking lot of Seven Sisters High School. It was a beautiful spring day, and despite the chill in the air the sun beat down relentlessly and heated up his back. He was almost glad to have an excuse to go out and enjoy it.

He parked his bike and set off on in a lazy spiral around the perimeter of campus. The tennis club was out practicing on the courts, and the muffled sounds of their activities drifted across the grassy lawn. He jammed his hands in his pockets, fingering the lighter with one hand as he went about his thoughtful stroll. As he approached the track he noticed a small crowd and several students in their team uniforms. Figuring there was a meet, he made his way over to the bleachers and took a seat.

"Well, well," a familiar voice behind him said. "Did I completely lose it or is Tatsuya Suou at school on a Saturday?"

He turned his head, then smiled as his eyes fell on the lean, raven-haired girl lounging a few rows above him. "Yoshizaka," he said. "What's up? You punishing yourself or something?"

Anna grinned and gave him a playful poke with her foot. "Gimme a break. I'm just here to see Noriko. She's running." She pointed towards the side of the track, where the underclassman was performing a series of hamstring stretches in the grass.

Tatsuya nodded and got up to sit down next to Anna. He stretched out his long legs on the bench in front of them and leaned back on his elbows. "So how's she doing? I heard she was out sick for a while."

"Ah, yeah. She's doing fine." Anna lowered her gaze, her cropped hair just brushing her eyelashes. After a moment she glanced back up, forcing a small smile. "Definitely needs to work on her conditioning though. She runs out of steam."

Tatsuya noticed her strained expression and frowned. _That's not like her,_ he thought, but decided not to press the issue. She never did with him, so he figured he owed her that much.

"Hey," he said after a few minutes of silence. "Like my new jacket?"

She looked over at him and furrowed her brow. "New?"

"Well, it's not exactly mine, not yet anyway, but... wait, what did you say?"

"Oh," she said, her features opening up in an expression of understanding. A slight flush touched her cheeks. "Never mind. I just... thought I'd seen you wear it before. It's cool though."

Tatsuya gave her a puzzled look, then shrugged, running one hand through his hair. The wind had been stirring it up, occasionally blowing stray locks over his eyes. He batted at them impatiently. Anna stole a sideways glance at his face, watching him carefully as they sat in silence. She knew he'd lost some of his recent memories, but she didn't know why. She guessed post-traumatic stress disorder after the deaths at the school, or something like that. That could explain why his older brother had specifically asked her not to mention the incident to him.

_I wish I could be so lucky_, she thought, pursing her lips. _To forget everything that happened._ As it was, she still had nightmares of Hannya's mutilated body, or that horrible man with the paper bag... that horrible face. She suppressed a shudder.

Below them, the crowd seemed to be getting ready for the next race. They watched as the runners lined up and took their places. Noriko was on the inside, next to two other Sevens runners and several people Anna recognized from other schools. The young girl lunged, settling in on the block and waiting for the whistle.

When it came, she took off like a shot. Anna sat up and cheered, and even Tatsuya quirked an eyebrow in interest. "That was a great start, even for Noriko," Anna remarked, apparently quite pleased. Tatsuya murmured in agreement.

The runners were all doing quite well, perhaps because of the fine weather, and it was a good race to watch. As Anna had predicted, Noriko burned out and fell behind towards the end, but only dropped behind two other people to come in at a healthy third place. "That's really good for this division," Anna said proudly. "She must be working hard."

Tatsuya sat up and turned towards her. "So does it still bother you? That you can't..." he waved one arm towards the track and the crowd.

She shrugged. "Sure it does. But I'm not as messed up about it as I used to be." A sigh escaped her lips and she rubbed her hands together. "I mean, I'm glad the bastard is dead. I wish I wasn't but I am. Just doesn't seem to be much point in being mad about it anymore."

"I think know how you feel," the young man mused, looking down to watch the students cleaning up, some carrying jugs of water and towels away from the field. "Is the meet over already?"

Anna nodded. "You missed most of it. Oversleep?" She gave him a teasing grin.

"Yeah, yeah. It's not like I came here for the meet."

"I figured. Which bring me back to my original question. Why in hell are you at school on a Saturday?"

He sighed. "My brother asked me to come. You know he's an investigator, right? I guess I'm supposed to be watching for some missing girl." The bleachers were clearing and he stood, stretching languidly. "Figured I'd show up for a while to make him happy. Oh! That reminds me, it's a good thing I ran into you."

Anna got up slowly, still favoring her leg a bit. She eyed him warily. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Tatsuya let his head roll to the side, his hair falling over his face. "Well, I know it's stupid, but... he told me to bring a girl along." He gave her an embarrassed look. "Maybe he thinks I need a girlfriend."

She stifled a laugh. "You and me both, brother. You know as well as I that I can't help you there. Besides, I've got homework to do." She shrugged into her coat.

His shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Please? You're one of the only girls I can stand to be around for more than thirty seconds."

Anna frowned. "Hey, Suou. Don't say stuff like that. You know it's not that bad."

"Okay, you're one of the only _people_ I can stand to be around for more than thirty seconds."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll walk you back to the main building but after that I'm outta here. Since when do you do your brother's dirty work, anyway?"

He sighed. "I guess I've changed too."

"Hey," the young woman said, lifting his chin with one gloved hand. She smiled a little when he met her eyes. "Don't worry too much about it. Maybe it's for the best." He nodded and smiled gratefully.

They made their way down the bleachers, then walked in silence across a wide meadow towards the school. Dandelions were beginning to appear in clumps all over the grass, peppering the field of green with tiny yellow blotches. Tatsuya leaned down and snatched one up out of the ground.

"You know what they say," he said absentmindedly, fondling the long stem with fingers sticky from sap.

"Hmm?" Anna seemed to come back from someplace far away.

He stopped walking and turned towards her, holding out the bright yellow head of the flower. "That if you rub a dandelion on your chin and it makes your skin yellow, then you're in love."

The girl looked up at him with an incredulous look. "Are you serious? You don't believe in that crap, do you?"

He grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno, I didn't used to believe in rumors either, but the world's turning out to be more complicated than I thought it was."

She sighed and stuck out her chin. "Fine, give it a try."

Tatsuya reached out and touched the dandelion lightly to her skin. He brushed it back and forth a few times before pulling it away and inspecting her closely. "Nothing. Must be a dud," he joked, tossing the blossom over his shoulder.

Anna gave him an exasperated look. "Well, it's one for one so far." She bent down and plucked another one, brushing a fat bee from the blossom. "Now it's your turn."

He shrugged and closed his eyes, letting her drag the flower over his chin. Her eyebrows raised. "A positive! Apparently there's at least one girl you can stand after all." She stifled a laugh.

Tatsuya opened his eyes and touched two fingers to his chin, surprised to see them come away covered in fine yellow pollen. Anna handed him a handkerchief and he brushed it off the best that he could. "Guess it's just a rumor," he said distantly, but he couldn't place the sick feeling that nagged at his heart. _Am I really in love?_ he thought. _Is it ridiculous that I don't even know who it is?_

Anna shrugged, as if she could read his mind. "It's like you said, the world is a pretty complicated place."

He couldn't really argue with that.

* * *

It was later than he would have liked by the time he finally got home. He only stuck around for an uneventful hour and a half after Anna left, but his growling stomach got the better of him and he ended up stopping for food on the way home. The sun was already setting by the time he rolled his bike into the lot of his brother's apartment.

He was surprised to find the door unlocked when he got there. "Big Brother?" he called out, pushing the door open slightly. Light from the hallway spilled into the apartment, which was quiet and completely dark. He suppressed a shudder.

"Katsuya?" he called again, more tentatively this time. He took a step over the threshold and kicked off his shoes. _I guess I left the door unlocked,_ he thought, trying to soothe the nervous prickles that were running along his spine. He felt along the wall for the light switch, breathing a sigh a relief when he found it and flooded the room with light.

It was short-lived relief.

Before he could even turn around, he felt a slam against his shoulder and found himself knocked full-force against the wall. Groaning, he lifted his head and grabbed his shoulder with one hand, trying to get his bearings and see his attacker. Something blurred in his peripheral vision and he leapt forward, feeling his muscles tense instinctually as he ducked and rolled behind the couch. He searched frantically for something he could use as a weapon, finally settling on a golf umbrella that occupied a wire basket beside the TV.

"Who's there?" he cried out, waving the pointed tip of the umbrella wildly. His eyes darted around the room before finally settling on a moving shadow behind the curved back of the couch. His knuckles white on his surrogate sword, he paced carefully to one side, bringing the dark shape into better view.

It hurt to look directly at it, as it slid impossibly along the surface of the carpet, changing shape and dimension. The sound of laughter drifted into his awareness; sick, ugly, twisted laughter that made him want to turn and run in fear. It took all of his willpower to keep his feet rooted to the ground, his hands on his weapon, his eyes on that maddening shadow.

The laughter stopped abruptly and the shape began to change, growing and morphing into something much bigger, more solid. It began to move like an animal, first on four legs then straightening awkwardly up to two. It wavered, huffed, and stretched into a roughly humanoid shape before the blackness shrunk back, dripping down the figure like tar. A radiant whiteness emerged, taking the shape of two arms, two legs, a willowy neck, bare feet. The face of a woman. The dripping darkness clung to her body, formed a loose garment, long black hair. She rolled her shoulders with a sickening crack and flashed him a predatory smile.

"Nice jacket," she remarked, her voice both high and low, both male and female.

Tatsuya took a step back, moving instinctively into a guarded stance. His lips curled back. "What do you want with me?" he growled, his voice low and animalistic to his ears.

The woman's expression twisted into a mocking pout. "You don't remember me? But we were so in love..." Her features shifted into a face that flickered on the borders of recognition like dim lantern-light. Tatsuya closed his eyes, repulsed by her radiance.

"I don't want to see," he spat. "Just leave me alone. Whoever... whatever you are, just leave me alone."

She chuckled at that, an oddly metallic sound. "Aren't you just so nice," she purred, as he felt her sickening presence draw nearer. "Asking so politely like that. I like nice boys." Her touch settled lightly on his arm, sending cold flame shooting through his nerves to his still throbbing shoulder. He whimpered softly. "You weren't nice when we first met. I thought you'd be a lovely toy. I was delighted to learn that you're so much more."

His eyes opened slowly, an intense gaze pouring out from behind heavy eyelids. His usually pale eyes flickered and burned with anger. "Get out of my house," he hissed between clenched teeth. "I know what you are. And you know what I can do." His hand twisted in their grip on the umbrella handle and his eyes narrowed to fiery slits. "Don't make the mistake of thinking I won't deliver."

The shadow-woman hissed and drew back a fraction of an inch. "You wouldn't."

Tatsuya stood up straight then, the umbrella dropping to his side. He held his hands together, his arms forming an 'x' over his chest that echoed the design on his jacket. His eyes fluttered closed and he felt his mind being taken over by a hauntingly familiar sensation. Electrical energy flickered at the edges of his perception, and he when he opened his eyes he saw that the room had filled with a pale blue light.

His lips twisted into a smile. "Try me," he said, without a fraction of doubt in his voice.

The creature jumped back as if burned. She drew back against the wall and cowered in the shadows there. "It won't do you any good, you know," she cried out, quaking with fear and rage. Her many faces shifted and blurred together, and she began to melt into the air. "He knows you're here and he's coming for you! Apollo can't protect you from _him_! Far bigger things are at work here, Tatsuya Suou..." she trailed off, her head and face now distorted beyond recognition. Soon her mouth was the only part of her left, opening up like a horrible maw of empty space. "You may not remember," the disembodied voice crooned. "But you are still the key..."

The last bit of shadow melted from the air just as Tatsuya fell forward on the carpet, his eyes rolling shut as he slipped into blissful unconsciousness. 


End file.
